Talismans for Travel
Adelphi Hotel + e.g.etal, 2017
I believe a talisman requires 3 ingredients to be realised:
First, the material must have some magic.
In my experience, materials found in nature seem to carry the most potent qualities.
Second, a talisman must be made with pure intentions, requiring a special focus
towards honouring the material and celebrating its essence.
Third, the wearer must believe in magic.
Without all this, the talisman sleeps.
An ordinary thing, like an old volcano waiting to stir. Some people say, a talisman chooses you anyway.
Albatross Necklace, 2017. wing bone (unidentified species), beach plastic, sterling silver, sky blue silk, 10 x 1,240mm
An albatross, a traveller, a talisman
Made from the wing bone of a great traveller Found sun bleached in the sand Cape Woolamai, April 2017 Albatross bone? Perhaps Imagine the heights sourced, the distances traversed In the storms braved A material sacred for Maori Used to make Koauau (flute)
To summon healing spirits, to make people laugh To mark the stages of life, or to send messages A hollow form Encourages breath, flow Bone Reminds us of mortality So we might find peace in the now
Scale, small enough to wrap your fingers around Big enough to hold against your heart (life) Your throat (voice) Your gut (instinct) Smooth to the touch Warm on the body White as chalk On precious thread.
Albatross Necklace, 2017. wing bone (unidentified species), beach plastic, sterling silver, sky blue silk, 10mm x 1,240mm
Two Melbourne laneway institutions, e.g.etal and Adelphi Hotel, collaborated to present Talismans for Travel. The collection showcased a series of wearable objects that seek to provide protection, luck and guidance – and celebrate the experience of travel and exploration.
Talismans for Travel formed part of Radiant Pavilion, a bi-annual Melbourne festival celebrating contemporary jewellery, and Craft Cubed – Festival of the Handmade.
Despite monumental changes in the way we travel, the act of leaving home
still evokes atavistic pleasures and anxieties. Exhilarating, arduous, mundane and rewarding, travel offers moments of both heady independence and profound human connection. Bookended by movement, we seek stillness: a temporary home.
A talisman can be any object that we inscribe with the power to affect our emotions or surroundings. This exhibition explored the ways in which contemporary jewellery can give physical and artistic expression to the ubiquitous desire for safe passage and a sense of place, in the pursuit of new worlds.
- Extracted from the ‘Talismans for Travel’ catalogue
