Penumbra Antumbra

07 - 21 February 2015

Penumbra  Antumbra

Becky Bliss    Kelly McDonald

Becky Bliss:

The word, Penumbra, which is the name of the individual pieces, comes from the Latin - umbra., which translates to the inner or darkest part of a shadow.

Becky Bliss looks to capture the intangible in her work.

Her recent “Penumbra” series, through the use of simple shapes and colours,  plays with shadows, shadows of shadows,  the space between the shadows and the images they create for the viewer.

Previous work has looked at layers and traces of the past (pentimento), evoking what may have once been there.

Her work is influenced by the urban environment and her training as a graphic designer.

Becky Bliss graduated from Whitireia with a Bachelor of Applied Arts in 2010. From 2011-13 she was a participant in “Handshake 1”, the international mentorship scheme for emerging jewellers, where she worked with Italian jeweller Fabrizio Tridenti.

She will exhibit and represent New Zealand in 2015 at Schmuck in Munich, Germany. Schmuck, established in 1959, takes place in Munich during the International Trade Fair and is the longest running exhibition of contemporary jewellery objects in the world.  In 2015 it will run from 11th-17th March.  

Becky lives in Wellington.

Kelly McDonald:

The antumbra (from Latin ante, 'before') is the bright ring visible around the eclipsing body.

Kelly McDonald lives in Wellington after moving from Australia ten years ago. Her jewellery explores steel and brutalist ideas as a counterpoint to mass-production, built-in obsolescence and 3D printers. 

She is a jewellery tutor at Whitireia New Zealand and a participant in the international mentorship scheme for emerging jewellers, Handshake2. Her mentor for the duration of the project is New Zealand artist, Kirsten Hayden.

Kelly is a guest exhibitor at AVID Gallery as part of the Handshake 2 project and will be a featured artist in the upcoming Handshake2  Mentors and Mentees  Exhibition  at AVID in September 2015.