Jessamy Pollock is a
Contemporary Jewellery Designer whose work has been attracting a lot of attention
lately. She completed the two year Associate program at JamFactory and now
works from her studio on level one at JamFactory as a tenant. We asked Jessamy about her practice:
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| Jessamy at work in her JamFactory studio |
You’ve gone through
the JamFactory Associate program and now work here as a tenant. Can you tell us
about the transition from University to Associate to tenant?
I studied at CSU in Wagga Wagga where, aside from at the
Uni, there is no contemporary jewellery scene. I didn’t have the finances to
start up my own studio when I finished my degree and I lacked the confidence to
start out on my own. I had spent a year working for a trade jeweller which
helped me to realise that I wanted to work for myself as a contemporary
jeweller.
The JamFactory was the perfect solution, the associate
program helped me transition from graduate to sole practitioner and small
business owner. The associate program demonstrated to me
numerous ways in which it was possible to draw an income from a creative
practice. I learnt about product design and manufacture. I worked on private
commissions and large scale objects including corporate gifts, garden
sculptures and public artworks. I learnt how to cost a job, small or large and
how to present a design and quote to a customer or panel.
As an associate I discovered a passion for teaching. I
gained experience in designing and delivering basic skills classes and design
workshops to children, teens and adults.
These are all projects that were out of my comfort zone and
I never would have attempted them without the support of the Jam. Now I am
implementing many similar projects within my own practice whist continuing to
make exhibition pieces.
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| Honeycomb |
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| balance bangles |
A lot of jewelers
only require a small workspace and work from home. What are the attractions for
you of being at JamFactory?
At the Jam Factory I have access to big machinery that I
could never afford myself or house such as a metal lathe, milling machine,
hydraulic press, magna bender and a large anodising set up. I also have access
to mentoring from the established jewelers in the building and have a lot of
peer support. The JamFactory also attracts tourists and visitors and generates
a lot of publicity. Also, my studio also has a massive window which I can
display my work in which generates a lot of interest!
You’ve been the
recipient of some grants and awards lately! …
Yes! I was awarded a $10,000 ArtStart grant for costs
associated with setting up and marketing my practice. This month I won the Gold
and Silversmiths Guild of Australia Award at the Contemporary Australian Silver
and Metalwork awards and I’ve also had two series of works selected to be
exhibited in Contemporary Wearable’s which is a biennial jewellery award held
at Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery. It’s been a really exciting few months!
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| Contemporary Wearables | Shelter brooches |
What is the
inspiration behind the honeycomb shaped work?
I have always been inspired by architecture and geometry and
I like to employ pattern in my work as a way of controlling proportion. I like
this new work because whilst it’s still quite geometric, it has an organic
quality to it which I’ve never seen in my work before!
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| Contemporary silver and metalwork award Fold brooch |
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| New brooches in the studio |
The pieces are all
meant to be worn as jewellery; is there some larger scale work in the pipeline
for you?
Yes, as part of the Prospect-Us project I will be doing a
public artwork in the City of Prospect later this year. The concept is
jewellery for the park and will consist of honeycomb forms a little bigger than
my wearable pieces. The sculptures will be subtle, but intriguing, adorning
selected trees and park benches in St Helens Park. Drawing the attention of the
playful and creative visitors to the park, the aim is to encourage play,
inspire creative thinking and celebrate the beginning of spring as well as the
honeybees’ important role in pollinating and promoting growth in our parks and
gardens.
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| Fold pendants |
Can you tell me about
the CBD Bees project with Natalie Gock and Marcel Hoogstad-Hays?
CBD Bees are a group of bee keepers who want to encourage
business owners around the city of Adelaide to put bee hives on top of their
buildings. The incentive for business owners is free honey collected from their
hives by the volunteer bee keepers! To promote this idea, CBD Bees did a call
out for 7 artist to donate their time and skills and decorate a working bee
hive for this year’s SALA festival. The
beehives will be displayed at the SANTOS Conservation Centre at the Adelaide
Zoo for the duration of SALA and will then be displayed in permanent homes
around the city and on the rooftop garden at the Zoo where they will house a
colony of bees!
Can you tell us about
the Heartland Exhibition at the Art Gallery SA?
That was an exciting project! I was introduced to
installation artist Amy Joy Watson a few months ago. We shared the same
business mentor who saw potential for collaboration. I was contacted a few
months later with a proposal. Amy was
making work for Heartland and was
asked by the curator if she knew a jeweller who she could collaborate with to
make a range of jewellery which reflected her work and could be displayed and
sold in the gallery shop for the duration of the exhibition. Amy thought of me
because of our similar aesthetics and use of geometric patterns.
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| Work from the Heartland exhibition |
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| Work from the Heartland exhibition |
We worked on the entire project together. Amy came to my
studio at the Jam where we spent half the day folding and gluing cardboard
until we had a set of five forms that we both agreed on. I then taught Amy how
to use a jeweller’s saw and drill press, handed her a file and we made the
brooches together over a week. Amy even came in and watched the anodizing
process. The project was really fun and
we are both really proud of what we designed!
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| Work from the Heartland exhibition |
What's next for you?
Well, I have a product range which is about to be launched
at Pieces of Eight Gallery in Melbourne. I’m also working on some commissions
such as a corporate gift and some silver serviette holders. I really want to do
more large scale things, so I’ve been writing applications for public art
projects and I’m starting to look at sculpture competitions and commissions.
I’m also working towards a solo show which I would like to show next year and
hopefully tour. The exhibition explores scale, the phenomenon of the miniature
and will consist of large and medium sculptures and small jewellery.
While all of that is happening, I am also trying really hard
to come up with a project which will land me overseas…. I have a lot to do!
And for something
completely off topic, what are you listening to in the studio?
Haha! Actually I have been listening to a play list of
Jefferson Airplane, Portishead, Flume and a bit of Nick Cave and the Bad
Seeds... it’s a pretty random mix!
What can’t you do
without?
My calipers, my drill press and my hands, also I really love
my weighted Swiss hammer, It’s the coolest thing I own!
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