bloom

15 -26 February 2019

Bloom is the debut of Antonia Boyle’s collection of Jewellery for the completion of her Masters of Fine Arts. Antonia has been studying since 2012 at the Dunedin School of art, which is where she fell in love with jewellery as an art form. Being a jeweller has allowed Antonia to express her passion for Mental health advocacy through wearable art pieces that enact physical experiences in the wearers.Bloom is about the life cycle. It is about growth after loss and echoes Antonia’s personal journey of loss and growth. During her the process of studying for her masters Antonia’s Mother passed away after suffering a long occurring illness. Antonia discovered that through her loss she found her roots of stability, friends, family, art making, and gardening. Her love of gardening and the cyclical nature of plants inspired the work for Bloom. The plant life cycle of loss feeding growth, and the growth them developing and dying off, returning to the ground to feed future growth. This life cycle can be applied to our own lives as a source of inspiration during hard times, with the knowledge that our losses will feed our own growth as is the balance of life. The human teeth present in the work was inspired by the removal of Antonia’s wisdom teeth and the emotions of loss that came afterwards. Teeth are something that are grown and lost throughout our lives, they are also a physical loss of a part of ourselves, therefore inspiring the works in this exhibition. Extending the shadows, projected from the pieces, through drawing expresses visually the non-visual growth that occurs in ourselves. The plants recreated for Bloom are all native to New Zealand as Antonia is a lifelong New Zealand resident and feels it is a key part of her identity.