Karin Findeis

Research

Karin Findeis has been exhibiting since 1987, both in Australia and internationally. She has recently completed her Doctorate of Creative Arts under the title Locating Author Jewellery: a taxonomy of contemporary objects. Karin has held the position of Chair of the Jewellers and Metalsmiths Group of Australia, NSW since 2006 and curated the 12th International Biennial JMGA Conference 2006 held at Sydney College of the Arts. She is currently co-curating with Bridie Lander By Example, an exhibition of Australian contemporary jewellery to be presented at the Museum of Arts and Crafts, Itami, Japan in March 2010.

The foundations of Karin’s work are based in the jewellery tradition however the real focus lies in the role that objects play in our lives. The portability and intimacy of jewellery provide a special context. Through the use of materials such as wax, wool (felt), lead, hair and wood alongside precious metals, the conventional becomes personal. In making her jewellery she draws on broad interests and curiosities such as belief systems, history, science and photography. The underlying ideas behind her work consider jewellery as fragments and remnants: as visual narratives that have evolved from the origins of history, culture, and curious fascinations. The result is ‘bijoux’, jewellery that plays in the spaces between our experiences of the body and the object.

Findeis' current research investigates and interrogates contemporary jewellery practice and the possibilities that objects may hold as communicators of culture. More specifically a focus is placed on the impacts that collecting, classification and museology have had on the relationship between objects and memory in both private and public domains. Recent work explores these ideas through the themes of visibility and invisibility, and the consequent relationships of jewellery and ‘intimate objects’ to these concepts. Findeis is interested in the philosophical presence of objects through addressing the notions of transience, perception, memory and collecting: that is, the place these objects take in people’s lives.

Findeis’ work is represented in private collections in Australia, France, Japan, the Netherlands & Spain.

Solo Exhibitions

sampler, Craft Victoria, Melbourne, 2009

samples: A Taxonomy of Objects, Macleay Museum, Sydney, 2008

soft bits, e.g.etal, Melbourne, 2005

Pretty as a Picture, Galerie Kathareze, Tilburg, Nederlands, 1996

recent work, Pluimage Sieraden, Groningen, Nederlands, 1995

Grenzeloze Mode, R95, Rotterdam, Nederlands, 1995

Trinity, Camera Lucida, Sydney, 1988



Selected Group Exhibitions


By Example: Australian Jewellery, Museum of Arts and Crafts, Itami, Japan, 2010

Once upon a time, SCA Gallery, Sydney & CAFA Gallery, Beijing, 2007

Maiden Voyage, Gaffa Gallery, Sydney, 2006

Confluence, Pyrmont Studios Gallery, Sydney, 2005

(some)Place in Place, Object Gallery, Sydney, 2005

Something to write home about …, Blacktown Arts Centre, Sydney & Cowra Regional Art Gallery, Cowra, 2004

for(4)m, Gallery 156, Sydney, 2004

Souvenir, with e.g.etal, Melbourne, 2004

Contemporary Wearables, Toowoomba Regional Gallery with National tour, 2003

Metal Element VI, Quadrivium, Sydney, 2003

Something to write home about …, Sir Hermann Black Gallery, Sydney, with NSW tour, 2003

sample, with e.g.etal, Melbourne, 2003

seven easy pieces, Kudos Gallery, Sydney, 1999

Carried by the Body, Sherman Galleries – Hargrave, Sydney, 1999

atopos & the consumable, The Masters Show, SCA Gallery, Sydney, 1999

Undercurrents, Itami & Tokyo, Japan, 1998

Contemporary Wearables, Toowoomba Regional Gallery with National tour, 1997

Memento, Makers Mark Gallery, Sydney, 1997

Art in Case, travelling exhibition, Nederlands, 1997

Publications

‘Consuming the object: jewellery as cultural marker’, paper presented at Challenging Craft, Robert Gordon University, Scotland, 2004

‘We are what we eat, Inherited Futures’, paper presented at the JMGA International Conference, Melbourne, 2003

‘Collecting the peripheries’, paper presented at Uncover 2003, University of Sydney, 2003

‘atopos & the consumable’, The Body Politic Conference, University of Northumbria, UK, 1999

‘Are you ready? Cultural Diversity’, paper presented at the JMGA International Conference, Melbourne, 1995

Awards & Grants

2008 Australia Council for the Arts: Presentation and Promotion Grant
2008 NAVA Marketing Grant
2007 Research Support Grant, University of Sydney
2006 Australia China Council Residency, Beijing
2005 Australia Council for the Arts: New Work Grant
2005 Mondriaan Foundation, the Netherlands, International Presentation Fund
2004 Australia Council for the Arts: Presentation and Promotion Grant
2003 Australia Council for the Arts: Skills and Arts Development Grant
2002 Museums & Galleries Foundation NETS: Exhibition Development Grant
2000 NAVA Marketing Grant
1989 Graduate Jewellery Award, City Art Institute (now CoFA, UNSW), Sydney

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