Tool
Solo exhibition
2011 7 July to 20 August Crucible Gallery Space at Artisan.
2012 Winner of the Noosa Regional Gallery national contemporary Sunshine Coast Art Prize (SCAP) 3D, presented by Sunshine Coast Council, Friday 24 August.
2011 7 July to 20 August Crucible Gallery Space at Artisan.
2012 Winner of the Noosa Regional Gallery national contemporary Sunshine Coast Art Prize (SCAP) 3D, presented by Sunshine Coast Council, Friday 24 August.
Tool installed at Artisan 2011
These works cross between sculpture and jewellery and the biological and mechanical and are conceptually linked to those in evidence, though as the title suggests the mechanical and tool are the focus.
Each of the works is a response to a found or collected fragment. They continue my investigations into the relationship between the symbolic function of objects and their more practical uses. I drew on the aesthetic of repair and honesty in mechanics that was valued in earlier mechanical tools, apparatus and implements, but is all but lost in modern technology. The integrity of the found fragment was maintained, my additions to repair it were consciously obvious.
A ceramic head found in the early 1990s between the old IMA site and Isn’t Studios Fortitude Valley provided the framework for the folding Pocket Knife. The blade was sourced from a ‘waiter’s friend’ found squashed on the road. A piece of bone inherited with Merv Muhling’s tools became the handle for the Rotary Dibbler. The Pen started from small silver elements from other artists’ studio collections of oddments, a miniature bowl from Merv Muhling and an incised section of chenier from Lisa Foote’s lemel. The Scissors blade was rescued from a broken set of metal snips and the fraction of handle was another road find. Materials and objects carry meaning, I worked with these fragments to uncover new meanings; these objects transform fragments into ‘functional’ tools in a transparent manner.
Each of the works is a response to a found or collected fragment. They continue my investigations into the relationship between the symbolic function of objects and their more practical uses. I drew on the aesthetic of repair and honesty in mechanics that was valued in earlier mechanical tools, apparatus and implements, but is all but lost in modern technology. The integrity of the found fragment was maintained, my additions to repair it were consciously obvious.
A ceramic head found in the early 1990s between the old IMA site and Isn’t Studios Fortitude Valley provided the framework for the folding Pocket Knife. The blade was sourced from a ‘waiter’s friend’ found squashed on the road. A piece of bone inherited with Merv Muhling’s tools became the handle for the Rotary Dibbler. The Pen started from small silver elements from other artists’ studio collections of oddments, a miniature bowl from Merv Muhling and an incised section of chenier from Lisa Foote’s lemel. The Scissors blade was rescued from a broken set of metal snips and the fraction of handle was another road find. Materials and objects carry meaning, I worked with these fragments to uncover new meanings; these objects transform fragments into ‘functional’ tools in a transparent manner.
Elizabeth Shaw, Rotary Dibbler, 2011, recycled sterling silver, found clock cog and bone, image Michelle Bowden.
Elizabeth Shaw, Tapper, 2011, reclaimed and recycled sterling silver, timber, image Michelle Bowden.
Elizabeth Shaw, Pincers, 2011, reclaimed and recycled sterling silver, image Michelle Bowden.
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Elizabeth Shaw, Tamper Tool, 2011, recycled and reused sterling silver, timber, image Michelle Bowden.
Elizabeth Shaw, Pen, 2011, reclaimed and recycled sterling silver, timber, image Michelle Bowden.
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Elizabeth Shaw, Scissors, 2011, reclaimed and recycled sterling silver, found stainless steel blade and fragment of handle, image Michelle Bowden.
Elizabeth Shaw, Pocket Knife, 2011, found ceramic and recycled sterling silver and found stainless blade, image Michelle Bowden.
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