Difficult Terrain

Emma Bugg, Janine Combes, Lola Greeno, Jane Hodgetts, Jeanette James, Shauna Mayben, Emily Snadden, Gabee Stolp, Sarah Stubbs, Anna Weber

Rosny Schoolhouse, 1 – 24 September 2023

What is it that makes something precious? Truly precious? What is it which we infuse an object with that make sit important to us? It’s an easy answer, but also a very subjective one: when it’s a symbol of something we love, be that a person or a moment or a complex concept, that a tiny keepsake comes to symbolise. That’s easy enough to understand: the meaning grows like a subtle barnacle of memory that bulges with time. We know this, we understand it. Jewellery can be a place where memory, love and hope are stored.

These are precious things. We carry them; we give them to our children and our lovers. They outlast us, and we become part of their story. So much weight for something so slight.

That’s the basic idea, but what if a creator of jewellery decides to temper their gold and silver with meaning from the very outset? That’s a part of making beautiful things that may go a little overlooked as we inscribe our own stories into beautiful things, but those narratives are rolled in as well; precious stones have meanings and magics linked into them, metals mean something and their fusion can carry silent weight.

In this exhibition, not so silent though.