Port Pirie regional Gallery is delighted to present USE, an exhibition of exquisitely crafted contemporary jewellery and small objects by seventeen artists from the Jewellers and Metalsmiths Group of Australia (Queensland Chapter), also known as JMGQ.

The exhibition will run from  December 11th - 31st  January 2021

Tools and process are at the heart of an artisan’s practice. This exhibition celebrates jewellery and small objects from the point of view of the maker, their tools and the making process.

USE Curator, Lisa Bryan-Brown, says, “While contemporary jewellery and small objects practices are highly diverse in their forms and motivations, tools are the common denominator that defines this field of creative practice. From traditional tools like hammers, saws and pliers, to modern innovations like 3D printers and laser-cutting machines, tools are essential in the creation of jewellery and small objects works. That is why they provide such a rich and reflexive theme for a group exhibition of works by jewellery and small objects artists”.

USE displays more than 70 works by selected JMGQ artists responding to this theme, pushing the conceptual and material boundaries of their practice to create sophisticated, quirky, intricate, and uniquely innovative works from an array of traditional and non-traditional materials. They contain the many associations of jewellery – intimacy, pleasure, wearability and adornment – but some are less functional and can be viewed as installation or small sculptural objects in their own right.

Artists showcased in this exhibition are Helen Bird, Jac Dyson, Lois Hayes, Catherine Hunter, Alicia Lane, Catherine Large, Samuel Lintern, Andy Lowrie, Nellie Peoples, Clare Poppi, Kierra-Jay Power, Paola Raggo, Elizabeth Shaw, Katie Stormonth, Rebecca Ward, Helen Wyatt, Xiaohui Yang.

USE will tour to twelve Australian galleries from 2019 to 2021.

USE is a touring exhibition in partnership between Jewellers and Metalsmiths Group of Australia (Queensland Chapter) Inc. and Museums & Galleries Queensland. This project is supported by the Visions regional touring program, an Australian Government program aiming to improve access to cultural material for all Australians; the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland; the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body; Liveworm Studio; and the Queensland College of Art, Griffith University.