e.c. by Shelley Norton

18 June - 18 October 2009

ARTIST'S STATEMENT

My work is centred around how we construct meaning… jouer, is the etymological root of the word jewellery, meaning to play.  I decided to play with our culturally constructed stories about what jewellery should be – small, wearable, precious, and decorative.  I wanted to create ‘fun’ pieces that would engage the viewer and collapse barriers… to draw attention to established knowledge, whilst at the same time looking at new ways of seeing and comprehending.
Jewellery, especially in regards to its serious games of signification around wealth and status, provides a huge area in which to start questioning and opening up para-spaces from which to examine these narratives.

e.c. – endless commutability – an idea coined in the writing of philosopher Jacques Derrida (1930 – 2004)

e.c. image courtesy of the artist Shelley Norton

About the Artist

Shelley Norton is resident in the Waikato with a national reputation as an installation artist and jeweller.

Her works often utilize the humble recycled object; transforming them in to ones that enable her to tell stories and to create other unconventional objects. Her works distinctively operate comfortably as adornment for the body or as three dimensional art works.

Selected Exhibitions:
      2008   Weeds Invites, Group Exhibition, Masterworks, Auckland.
      2008   As Good As Gold, Group Exhibition. Hokianga.
      2008   Overcast, Group Exhibition, Wellington.
      2007   Jewellery out of Context, Group Exhibition. Mary E. Black Gallery, Halifax,  
                Canada. CODA Museum Apeldoorn, The Netherlands.
      2007   Permit, Group Exhibition, Fingers Gallery, Auckland.
      2007   Jewellery out of Context, Group Exhibition. Objectspace, Auckland.
      2007   The Gift Exchange, Group Exhibition. The New Dowse, Lower Hutt
      2006   Weeds, Group Exhibition. Quoil Gallery, Wellington.
      2006   Cake, Group Exhibition. Quoil Gallery, Wellington.
      2006   Jewellery Out of Context, Group Exhibition. The Muse, Sydney.
      2006   Chocolate Box, Window Installation Series. Objectspace, Auckland.
      2006   Fingers Annual Group Show. Fingers Gallery, Auckland.
      2005   Weeds, Group Exhibition. Fingers Gallery, Auckland.
      2005   Home Improvements. Artspost, Hamilton.
      2005   De lineate, Group Exhibition. Artspost, Hamilton.
      2005   MSVA Selected Graduates Exhibition. te tuhi – the mark, Auckland.
      2005   Pond Life. Mary Newton Gallery, Wellington.

Publications:
      2005   500 Bracelets, Jurer Charon Kransen, Lark Books, New York.
      2005   500 Brooches, Jurer Marjorie Simon, Lark Books, New York.
      2003 1000 Rings, Jurer Robert Ebendorf, Lark Books, New York.
      2002  Details/Jot magazine.

Awards:
     2004  Merit Award The New Alchemists. National Art Award Exhibition.
     2002 The Friends of the Dowse Art Museum Student Design Award.
     2001 Senior Scholarship in Visual Arts, MSVA, Auckland University.

Collections:
TheNewDowse, Wellington, New Zealand.