OCCUPATION: Artist began in 2013 as a group of jewellers who supported each other’s practices, shared creative experiences and empowered each others’ ideas. We have since morphed into a group committed to raising jewellery’s profile in the public eye. We are about engagement, outreach and creating a platform upon which jewellery can be uplifted.
Our collective persona leverages the group identity to open up opportunities that are possible collectively but not individually; actions and disruptions that jolt us out of our inward-looking, autonomous practices, and engagements with the community that require a scale and scope beyond the individual.
Together we aim to bring the expanded field of contemporary jewellery to a new audience by raising its public profile and fostering critical discourse.
We are:
- Vivien Atkinson
- Becky Bliss
- Vernon Bowden
- Justine Fletcher
- Sarah Read
- Nadine Smith
- Caroline Thomas
- Lisa van Hulst
.
PRESENTATIONS GIVEN & EVENTS INITIATED
- Nelson Jewellery Week, 2023, invited artists, presented Reflect, a group show with artist talks
- The Dowse Art Museum, 2021, invited artists, presented All That Glitters at 50th Birthday Bash
- Radiant Pavilion lightening talks, Melbourne 2019. Presented Not Those Kind of Jewellers
- RMIT Design Hub, Melbourne, 2019. Panel member All The Jewellery
- Venues across Wellington, 2018. Presented No Filter, a week-long multi-artist calendar of exhibitions
- The Dowse Art Museum, 2018, invited artists, performed All that Glitters
- Radiant Pavilion, Melbourne, 2017. Speaker at Making Out, relay panel, curated by Julie Ewington,
- JEWELTalk, Wellington, 2017. Co-ordinated and hosted 13 speakers
Group projects
2025
- Give+Take, group show at Nelson Jewellery week
2024
- Give+Take, group show at Radiant Pavillion, Melbourne
2023
- Push Play, group show at Te Auaha, Wellington, NZ
- Reflect, group show at Nelson Jewellery Week
2020
- Tread Lightly, PARK(ing) Day, Wellington, NZ
- Gallery Faux, fictitious art gallery with a real-life website; CNZ-funded Covid-19 project
2019
- RED, Radiant Pavilion, Melbourne
- Detour, PARK(ing) Day, Wellington, NZ (Winner Judges’ Choice Award)
2018 Exhausted, PARK(ing) Day, Wellington, NZ (Joint Winner Judges’ Choice Award)
2017
- Paved with Gold, Radiant Pavilion, Melbourne
- Thin Ice, PARK(ing) Day, Wellington, NZ
2016
- O:A at TheSeeHere, Wellington NZ
- Golden Section, PARK(ing) Day, Wellington, NZ
2015
- Wear the Wares, SNAG, Boston USA
- Occupy Crossley St, Radiant Pavilion, Melbourne
- Occupy Anna, Anna Miles Gallery, Auckland
2013 Open days at the Grand Arcade, Wellington
Shows hosted at studio
2014
- Lost in Transformation, Natalie Smith and Amy King
- Domestic in Nature, Fran Carter
2013
- You’d-Prolong, Sarah Walker-Holt
- $N/A (Price Not Applicable), Monica Buchan-Ng
- Contemporary Wellington showcase for Mike Holmes of Velvet da Vinci, San Francisco
- The Grand Baby Royal X – Georgia Clack
- Wunderruma Casting Call – for Warwick and Karl’s curatorial fishing trip
RESIDENCIES HOSTED AT STUDIO
- 2015 Greta Menzies, Shapeshifter, 8 weeks
- 2014 Jane Ritchie, USA, 7 weeks
- 2014 Greta Menzies, YESYES, 2 weeks
MEDIA
- 2018 Explorations: Paved with Gold by Occupation: Artist interview by Sophia Cai for Radiant Pavilion’s writing series exploring four stand-out events presented at Radiant Pavilion, 2017
- 2017 PLAY AND POSSIBILITY Crafted Words—Art Jewellery Forum & Radiant Pavilion By Vidya Sai Rajan
- 2013 URBAN DREAM BROKERAGE PROJECT 6 Founded in 2013 and located in Grand Arcade,Willis St, Wellington, our initial site was secured via the Urban Dream Brokerage project.
Download the O:A CV
O:A member artists’ page: here
Occupation: ARTIST 