An induction to jewellery making often commences with the crafting of a simple copper ring – a fundamental exercise in metalwork and studio orientation.
Over the years, Workshop6 has accumulated a repository of these practice rings, serving as a tangible record of the many hands that have honed their craft with the jewellery collective. Emblematic of learning jewellery and the fundamentals of the craft, copper rings form the basis of Workshop6’s commission for the Courtyard Plinth.
Common Element includes more than 500 rings threaded across the Courtyard Plinth on a display designed by Michael McCabe. Assembled en masse these small objects embody the collective learning Workshop6 has fostered over decades in the craft of jewellery. Hundreds more rings will join this collection throughout the projects year-long exhibition, created during special ring-making workshops held at Workshop6's Grey Lynn studio.
The installation invites an intimate inspection and tactile interaction with the individual rings – quite unlike institutional modes of displaying jewellery that encase and shield objects from their natural interaction with the body. The copper rings will undergo a transformation in the elements, acquiring a patina that ranges from deep brown to hues of grey, black, green, and even salmon-pink.
In 2024, Workshop6 celebrates three decades as Aotearoa's most enduring jewellery collective. Throughout this time, the studio has been a vital hub for metalworking and jewellery craft. Many of Aotearoa’s leading contemporary jewellers have ties to Workshop6; training, teaching and fostering an extensive community connected through making. Common Element continues this work, stoking interactions and engagement that are crucial for sustaining studio jewellery practice in Aotearoa.
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Workshop6 is one of the longest running collective makers studios in Aotearoa. Led by jewellers Lucinda Barrett, Cheryl Sills, Mia Straka and Anna Wallis, the collective maintains a jewellery studio in Grey Lynn, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. The trio facilitates an extensive making programme from this space – from introductory short-courses through to dedicated bench space for established jewellers. Many established contemporary jewellers began their careers with Workshop6 and formulated viable creative practices within the collective, including jewellers with recent exhibition history at Objectspace such as Octavia Cook, Jane Dodd, Areta Wilkinson and Lisa Walker. Workshop6 has made a significant contribution to the national and international contemporary jewellery discipline.
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Objectspace's Courtyard Plinth Commissions are supported by the Jan Warburton Charitable Trust.
