Statement of Intent for Theory

This is a statement of intent for my current theory breif. Well, its in draft at the moment. So it'll change a bit, but I really liked writing a statement of intent....the rest of the assignment....ah....not so much!

"Ever since I can remember, I have always enjoyed making little things. My parents tell me stories about me spending hours and hours making tiny little books for people, and individually wrapping lollies for presents. The school assignments I can remember that I really had fun with involved making small models in graphics class and printing and arranging small photographic test sheets in photography class. So it feels entirely natural that I have ended up making in small scale in my tertiary studies.


Jewellery has been a way for me to express my making, ideas and emotions in a scale that seems hardwired into my brain/being. I enjoy the challenge small objects provide. The finest detail requires the most acute concentration and focus, tiny marks and changes make a huge impact on the final outcome and can completely alter the piece.

My work incorporates elements of interaction between user and object. I find the unknown possibilities of a piece of work that can be continuously altered and changed exciting. I enjoy seeing that different people can interpret and create different and new objects every time they come into contact with my work. I feel the loss of control by the maker, me, in the final outcome of the object is a quality that does not detract value from the work, but rather adds to it. Nor do I think it is laziness on my part. I find designing with an unknown outcome quite liberating, yet it is a challenge for me to create a system that I know, once released out of my power and into the public, will provide an enjoyable experience and produce attractive final objects.

“You cannot create an experience, but you can enable one.”

My work is based upon the creating of systems and I am drawn to take inspiration from a wide variety of interactive means. Kit sets, model sets, children’s construction toys, interactive playgrounds, bead craft, building sites, sewing, puzzles, interactive installation, collage; to name a few. Anything where there are many components to be pieced together and any number of possibilities for the final outcome.

I work in a very reflective manner. I tend to be drawn towards investigating my own personal experiences and emotions and involving these in my work. I find memories very evocative and often these memories are based around physical and sense-engaging events.

A significant idea that is embedded in my work and in my process is physical knowledge and physical memory. I understand my world through how I physically interact with it. I have said in the past that I live my life through my hands, and that is an essential foundation of how I work and of my work.

My studio process deeply reflects the work that I produce. I have a tendency to surround myself with lots of little pieces, and to work with them, altering, manipulating, changing, different combinations. I often work in series, or make multiples, and I find this gives me the opportunity to play throughout my making process.

I am, physically, very much in control throughout the making of a piece, or of the components, and I am dubious as to whether this is because I find the craft of jewellery and the physical handling and manipulating of materials very rewarding and satisfying, or whether this is because I am unfamiliar with newer ways of making. I think both reasons play a part in my tendency to always use my hands and hand held tools to make. I feel that the work produced is authentic, small imperfections adding to a hand-made and crafted over-all feel of the objects."