In Splendour Moot
Elfi Spiewack
01 Feb – 03 Mar 2018
The National presents this unique exhibition, curated and toured by Ashburton Art Gallery, for its second showing in New Zealand.
In Splendour Moot, Spiewack reconstructs the traditional jewellery pieces worn by those of high social rank and importance in portrait paintings from the Renaissance, Baroque and Victorian era. She has taken reproductions of these paintings and edited out the original jewellery and re-created new responses with jewellery pieces which are presented 3-dimensionally on the flat surface of the paintings. These new creations have been made using materials such as silver, gold and pearls which have been juxtaposed with materials of low monetary value like animal bones, antlers and synthetic hair in an attempt to question notions of beauty.
Artist Elfi Spiewack explores jewellery as a marker of self-expression and invites viewers to reconsider preconceived ideas around the value of jewellery and objects of adornment. Spiewack states “Nature has always been a big inspiration, working with ordinary materials and elevating them, putting them into a different context is what interests me. I want to open people’s minds as to what jewellery can be, to challenge the traditional definitions of what jewellery is.”
Ashburton Art Gallery, 2017
Spiewack completed a Bachelor of Arts in Jewellery and Object Design from the University College for Art, Design, Technology and Economy, Pforzheim, Germany. She is represented by The National, and exhibits in galleries throughout New Zealand. She has shown in numerous group and solo shows in New Zealand, Australia, Germany, The Netherland and USA since 1993.
Photo credits: Images copyright Ashburton Art Gallery, 2017. All rights reserved.
Exhibition installation images, courtesy of The National, 2018.