Kathleen Hunt
About the artist
In a process of continual generation and regeneration, expression or suppression, and as a means of understanding and connecting with the world, Kathleen Hunt works with reclaimed and repurposed materials, unraveling and twisting, to reveal hidden stories. This series is a response to my local environment - the UNESCO Noosa Biosphere Reserve - where tourism is the main industry and the natural environment is the product. In the rush of development, the community finds itself fighting to maintain the environmental integrity and amenity of the area, and my ecosophic practice is an ethical/political articulation between the environment, the social and the subjective.
In a process of continual generation and regeneration, expression or suppression, and as a means of understanding and connecting with the world, Kathleen Hunt works with reclaimed and repurposed materials, unraveling and twisting, to reveal hidden stories. This series is a response to my local environment - the UNESCO Noosa Biosphere Reserve - where tourism is the main industry and the natural environment is the product. In the rush of development, the community finds itself fighting to maintain the environmental integrity and amenity of the area, and my ecosophic practice is an ethical/political articulation between the environment, the social and the subjective.
Artwork blurb
“It’s what we salvage that must become the new precious”*
Discarded copper wire and newspaper - materials contemporary conversation - are reclaimed and recontextualised for the body, as a voice of environmental awareness. The studio process is based on twisting - both materials and meanings. This twisting gives a cultural connection to knowledge invested in the hands: familial and ancient. Soft hues of sterling silver, titanium, copper and rose gold provide a foil for the glare of the Queensland sky, with even the mid winter sun can be overbearing. Silk colours reference the sub-tropical vegetation - Blue Quandong, Orchid, Davidson Plum and Finger Lime, vegetation under threat from land clearing. The muted tones respond to the drought bleached landscape of the granite Traprock country. Found objects - sterling silver thunderbird cuff links and rose gold hoops - are included as connectors, reversing the value system of these precious minerals. The materials are all repurposed, and the works are designed to interact with, and to respond to, any body.
*Unexpected Pleasures: The Art and Design of Contemporary Jewellery, 2012.
“It’s what we salvage that must become the new precious”*
Discarded copper wire and newspaper - materials contemporary conversation - are reclaimed and recontextualised for the body, as a voice of environmental awareness. The studio process is based on twisting - both materials and meanings. This twisting gives a cultural connection to knowledge invested in the hands: familial and ancient. Soft hues of sterling silver, titanium, copper and rose gold provide a foil for the glare of the Queensland sky, with even the mid winter sun can be overbearing. Silk colours reference the sub-tropical vegetation - Blue Quandong, Orchid, Davidson Plum and Finger Lime, vegetation under threat from land clearing. The muted tones respond to the drought bleached landscape of the granite Traprock country. Found objects - sterling silver thunderbird cuff links and rose gold hoops - are included as connectors, reversing the value system of these precious minerals. The materials are all repurposed, and the works are designed to interact with, and to respond to, any body.
*Unexpected Pleasures: The Art and Design of Contemporary Jewellery, 2012.
Follow the artist via Facebook @Kathleen M Hunt, Instagram @huntartjewellery, contact [email protected]
Image by Caroline Arlett Photography