Occupation: Artist (O:A) is a Wellington-based collective with diverse individual art practices and a shared feminist vision. We are:
- Vivien Atkinson
- Sondra Bacharach
- Becky Bliss
- Kelly McDonald
- Kedron Parker
- Sarah Read
- Nadine Smith
- Caroline Thomas
Together we aim to bring contemporary jewellery to a new audience by raising its public profile and fostering critical discourse.
Our collective persona enables us to engage with the community via large-scale public art projects at home and overseas. Since our inception in 2013 we have exhibited widely, initiated events, hosted studio residencies and been invited to present at international conferences.
Selected projects
TREAD LIGHTLY, Park(ing) Day, Wellington, 2020
RED, Radiant Pavilion, Melbourne, 2019:
DETOUR, Park(ing) Day, Wellington, 2019 (Winner Judges’ Choice Award):
EXHAUSTED, Park(ing) Day, Wellington, 2018 (Joint Winner Judges’ Choice Award):
ALL THAT GLITTERS, The Dowse Art Museum, Wellington, 2018:
PAVED WITH GOLD, Radiant Pavilion, Melbourne, 2017:
THIN ICE, Park(ing Day), Wellington, 2017
GOLDEN SECTION, Park(ing) Day, Wellington, 2016:
PANELS AND PRESENTATIONS
- Not Those Kind of Jewellers, Radiant Pavilion lightning talks, Melbourne, 2019
- All the Jewellery panel member, RMIT Design Hub, Melbourne, 2019
- Making Out relay panel speaker, Radiant Pavilion, Melbourne, 2019
MEDIA
- Explorations; Paved With Gold by Occupation: Artist. Interview by Sophia Cai, 2018 Link here
- Play and Possibility, Crafted Words – Art Jewelery Forum & Radiant Pavilion, by Vidya Sai Rajan, 2017 Link here
FAUX SHOW Exhibiting Artists
For Faux Show, O:A will launch a fictitous Wellington-based gallery.
Between June and September each participating member will present an exhibition. First up will be Kedron Parker. Over the past year she has been photographing Nautilus Creative Space in Owhrio Bay, and is preparing this work for the debut of Faux Show.
Sondra Bacharach
Education
- BA Stanford University
- MA, PhD Ohio State University
Sondra is an Associate Professor and Head of the philosophy programme at Victoria University of Wellington, where she has worked since 2003. Her main area of research is in philosophy of art, especially new and different artforms like computer art, street art and comics. She’s also interested in traditional questions, like the definition of art, the ontology of art, and authorship. You can see her full list of publications at her academia.edu website.
Around Wellington, Sondra is an active arts-lover and is involved in philosophy for children in schools. She worked with Wellington City Gallery to develop a Thinking Through the Arts curriculum for primary school students, and has been involved in Island Bay School’s Philosophy for Children program since 2010, and South Wellington Intermediate’s program since 2016.
Sondra joined Occupation: Artist in 2017. She provides critical (but supportive!) feedback, probing (but kind!) questions, and an analytic approach to thinking about art that only a philosopher can offer. She brings energy, enthusiasm and moral support to those in the throes of artistic creation, and is learning to write art criticism.
Becky Bliss
Becky Bliss graduated from Whitireia New Zealand in 2010.
Her current work looks at social issues such as global warming, fair pay and equal employment opportunities. She has previously looked at traces of the past using subtle layering to evoke memories of what has been; before. More recently the Penumbra series looked at spaces created around the shadows of simple shapes.
She was a participant in Handshake 1, 3, and 5 as well as HandShake alumni exhibitions, in the New Zealand/German Wunderrüma exhibition, and an exhibitor in Schmuck 2020 in Munich and Valencia, and Schmuck 2015 in Munich and Prague.
Education
- Bachelor of Applied Arts, Whitireia New Zealand 2010
- Diploma of Visual Communications, Wellington Polytechnic 1976
Professional development
- Handshake mentoring project, mentee: Mentor Fabrizio Tridenti, Italy 2011-2013
- Peter Bauhuis Workshop, Auckland 2015
- Benjamin Lignel Workshop, Wellington 2015
- David Clark workshop, Auckland 2015
- Hilde de Decker masterclass (5 days), Wellington 2016
Selected exhibitions
2020
- Schmuck, Munich
- Frame Galleries, Schmuck not Schmuck, The National, Christchurch
- Schmuck, Valencia
2019
- AVID Gallery, joint show with Peter Deckers
- Handshake 5, CODA, Apeldoorn, the Netherlands
- Handshake 5, Te Uru
2018
- Handshake, ATTA Gallery, Thailand
- Handshake, Stanley Street
- Masterworks, Bulb installation, Paradoxical Pegs
- Masterworks Empowering Women – 125 Years of Women’s Suffrage, Auckland
2017
- Handshake 3, Frame Galleries, Handwerksmesse, Munich
- Handshake/Dialogue Collective collaboration, Lot 62 Gallery, Munich
- The Button Show, Masterworks, Auckland
- The Dowse, Handshake 3 exhibition, Wellington
- Occupy Crossley Street 2, Radiant Pavilion, Melbourne, Australia
- Beijing International Contemporary Jewellery exhibition
2016
- Golden Section, Park(ing) Day installation with Occupation: Artist, Wellington NZ
- Specials, Handshake alumni: Einsaulensaal, Munich, Germany
- Avid solo show, Found
- Objectspace, Auckland, show–sell–shift exhibition
- Objectspace Handshake 3 group collaboration exhibition
- Gallery Platina, Stockholm, Handshake 3 group exhibition
Publications
- Wunderruma 2014
- Handshake: 12 contemporary jewellers connect with their heroes, 2014
- Schmuck Catalogue 2015
- SPANpoints, Handshake 3, 2016
- Contemporary Jewellery in Context, a Handshake blueprint, 2017
- Schmuck Catalogue 2020
Awards
- Masterworks Award for jewellery graduate (2010)
- Winthrop University Guild of Emerging Metalsmiths, USA. Sticks and Stones Award (2010)
Kelly McDonald
Kelly McDonald completed a Bachelor of Visual Arts at Sydney College of the Arts (1997). Since 2004 she has been based in Wellington, New Zealand, where she was a tutor in the contemporary jewellery programme at Whitireia New Zealand (2007-2019), a selected participant in several iterations of the Handshake mentoring project (2014 – 2019) and completed her Masters of Visual Art at Massey University (2019).
McDonald takes pleasure in the poetry of simple things, excavating meaning from otherwise discarded useful objects and softening the hardest edges of utilitarian design. Working in series, she draws out the potential for new meanings in our daily encounters with objects, coaxing subtle affinities and delicate perceptions of difference from her rhythmic constellations and typologies of form. By working in this way, McDonald hopes to endow objects with a greater sense of their lived-with experience, and in particular, what they then might reveal about the lives and labours of women.
McDonald’s work has been included in Schmuck, Munich (2017), and Wunderruma, an international touring exhibition curated by Karl Fritsch and Warwick Freeman. Her recent exhibitions include The Mother Lode with Victoria McIntosh, exhibited as part of Radiant Pavilion, Melbourne, Australia (2019), solo exhibitions TOOL LOOT & The Mother Lode, at The National, Christchurch and Portraits, at Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery, Auckland, both in 2018.
Education
- Masters Fine Arts, Massey University, NZ 2018-19
- Bachelor of Visual Arts: Jewellery & Object Design, Sydney College of the Arts, 1997
- Bachelor of Nursing, Monash University, Victoria, Australia, 1994
Professional development, presentations and workshops
- Presenter at Radiant Pavilion Lightening Talks, RMIT, Melbourne, 2019
- Member of panel for All The Jewellery, RMIT Design Hub, Melbourne, 2019
- Handshake 5, 1-year professional development program, 2018
- Speaker at Making Out relay panel, Radiant Pavilion, Melbourne, 2017
- Handshake 3, 2-year profesional development program, 2016
- David Clarke (UK) workshop, 2016
- Hilde de Decker (Belgium) masterclass, 2016
Upcoming exhibitions/events
- Kelly McDonald/Victoria McIntosh, Masterworks, Auckland, Oct – Nov 2020
- The Mother Lode, with Victoria McIntosh, Australian Design Centre, Sydney, Australia, March 2021
- Island Welcome, Curator: Belinda Newick, ANU SOAD Gallery, Canberra, July 2021
- Presenter for Jewellers & Metalsmith’s Group Australia (JMGA) Conference, Canberra, July 2021
- Exhibit with Sue Lorraine/Victoria McIntosh, Aust. National University, Canberra, June 2021
- Kelly McDonald/Victoria McIntosh, The National, Christchurch, July 2021
Selected solo/two-person exhibitions
2019
- The Mother Lode: A Tragicomedy, Te Auaha, Wellington, NZ
- The Mother Lode, with Victoria McIntosh, Radiant Pavilion, Melbourne, Australia
2018
- Portrait of Jewellery, Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery, Auckland
- TOOL LOOT & The Mother Lode, The National, Christchurch, NZ
- Series 2: Various meditations on a woman’s lot, The See Here, Wellington, NZ
Selected group exhibitions
2020
- The National In Munich at Home, The National, Christchurch, NZ
- Molly Morpeth Canady Award, Arts Whakatāne, Whakatāne
2019
- In Site, Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery, Auckland
- Handshake in dialogue with CODA Collection, CODA Museum, The Netherlands
- Master Makers, RMIT Gallery, Melbourne
- The Neck, Projectspace, Sydney, Australia
- Red, with Occupation: Artist, Radiant Pavilion, Melbourne
- The National at Munich Jewellery Week, Frame Galleries, Munich, Germany
2018
- Te Ao Hurihuri, Handshake with Dialogue Collective, The Crypt, London, England
- Superpositions, Stanley Street Gallery, Sydney, Australia
- All that Glitters, O:A occupies The Dowse, The Dowse Museum, Wellington, NZ
- Chain Reactions, Atta Gallery, Thailand
2017
- Reflect, HandShake 3, The Dowse Museum, Wellington, NZ
- HandShake 3, Frame Galleries, Handwerksmesse, Munich, Germany
- Schmuck, Munich, Germany
- Occupy Crossley Street, Radiant Pavilion, Melbourne, Australia
Selected Media and Publications
- Contemporary Hum, Handshake 5: In Dialogue; Emerging Contemporary New Zealand Jewellery at CODA Museum, Holland, Roseanne Bartley, 2020 Link here
- Art News, Winter 2017, ‘Our contemporary jewellery artist’s shine at Schmuck’ image & text p.96-97,
- Tool as Jewel, Publication ed. Mary-Jane Duffy, 32-page artist’s catalogue
Grants
- Graduate Women Manawatu post‑graduate scholarship, 2019
- Creative New Zealand, arts grant, 2019
- Creative New Zealand, contemporary jewellers to Schmuck, 2017
Kedron Parker
Kedron Parker is an artist based in Wellington.
Her work is about place. She explores her responses through environmental installation, sound, photography and video. Her recent works include collaborations such as Inanga Love Park, Hello Pigeons, the Wet Index, and Kumutoto Stream.
Kedron joined Occupation: Artist in 2019 and participated in Tread Lightly for Park(ing) Day, in conduction with the Wellington Sculpture Trust.
Education
- Bachelor of Social Work, University of Georgia 1992
- Intern for Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg Tennessee 1992
- Intern for the Headlands Center for the Arts, CA 1994
- Masters of Social Work, VCU 1995
Employment
- AIDS Activist, Medical Social Worker 1990’s
- Musician, performed in Menthol Hill, the Kids of Widney High, and Musicantica 1990’s – 2000’s
- Audio Post-Production Coordinator for Animation for Klasky Csupo, creating cartoons for Nickelodeon Late 90’s – 2003
- Marketing, Tone Casualties & Casual Tonalities Record Labels, at Klasky Csupo early 2000’s
- General Manager, Access Radio, 2004-08
- Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment, Immigration New Zealand, Wellington Regional Settlement Strategy 2008-13
2014 – Present: Artist. Works include:
- Inanga Love Park Pictures, 2018-19
- Field Days Bachelor of the Year, 2018
- Inanga Love Park, 2017
- Sanctuary, 2016-17
- Hello Pigeons, 2016
- The Water Sensitive Urban Design Study Group, 2015
- The Wet Index, 2015
- Kumutoto Stream, 2014-15
Sarah Read
Sarah is a Wellington-based artist who works mostly in the field of contemporary jewellery.
Her work has a conceptual base and often features social practice, collaboration or third-party participation.
Education
- BA Visual Arts (Jewellery), Whitireia New Zealand 2010
- BA (Hons) Fine Art, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK 1983
- Handshake mentoring project, 2011-13, Handshake 3, 2016-17, Handshake 5, 2019
Professional engagement
- Occupation: Artist co-founder & coordinator 2013 – ongoing
- The See Here, co-founding member, 2010 – ongoing
- Jelly Arts (Community art charity): associate artist, exhibitor, studio resident, 2017 – ongoing
Selected exhibitions
2019
- Handshake in dialogue with CODA collection, CODA Museum, Apeldoorn, Netherlands
- Sweet As, Holybrook Gallery, Reading
2018
- Sweet As, Jelly Arts, Reading
- Terra in/cognita |Te Ao Hurihuri with HDSC, The Crypt Gallery, London
- To the power of 3: Turbine House, Reading
- On the Go, Te Auaha Gallery: Wellington Arts festival
- Superpositions, Stanley St, Sydney
2017
- How to Make a Necklace from a Chair, The See Here, Wellington, NZ
- The Jewellers Have Landed, Tate Modern, London
- Outside Galerie Biro, Munich, Germany
- Outside Gallery Funaki, Melbourne, Australia
- Reflect: Handshake at The Dowse Art Museum, Wellington, NZ
- Paved with Gold with Occupation: Artist, Radiant Pavilion, Melbourne
- Handshake 3, Frame Galleries, Munich, Germany
2016
- Outside Gallery SO, London, UK
- Outside Platina, Stockholm, Sweden
- Handshake, Platina, Stockholm, Sweden
- Ahi Kā – Keep the Fires Buring, Pataka, Wellington, NZ
- Lighten up, The See Here, Wellington, NZ
- Playthings, Refinery Art Space, Nelson, NZ
- Specials, Handshake alumni, Einsaulensaal, Munich, Germany
Nadine Smith
Nadine lives in Wellington and works part time as an artist and nurse. Caring for others has developed my fundamentally humanist philosophy. Fueled by this and the fragility of life, her often reference the relationship we have with the developing technological world and how this creates possibilities for enhancement or re-creation of our environment, our lives, even ourselves.
Being an avid recycler with magpie tendencies and an active imagination lends itself to a diverse range of work. Medical and other recycled paraphernalia when used out of context can create a tension between the familiar and the unknown. The works aim to intrigue, inviting the audience to reflect and make connections from their own life experiences.
Education
- Bachelor of Applied Arts, Whitireia Polytechnic, 2006 – 2009
- National Certificate in Adult Education & Training, Weltec 2006
- Bachelor of Nursing, Wellington Polytechnic 1994 -1996
Selected exhibitions
2018
- Polarity, Handshake4, Corbans Estate Arts Centre, Auckland
- Super Positions, Handshake, Stanley Street Gallery, Sydney
- Process, Handshake4, Toi Poneke Gallery, Wellington
- Midas Touch, No Filter: Occupation Artist, Wellington
- All That Glitters: Occupation Artist, The Dowse, Wellington
2017
- Chain Reaction, Handshake, Atta Gallery, Thailand
- Leanings, Handshake4, Pah Homestead, Auckland
2016
- (Lost) Paradise, Alliages, France
- Ahi Ka – Keep the fires burning, Pataka Gallery, Porirua
- Playthings, The Refinery, Nelson
- Spinal Tap, The See Here, Wellington
2015
- Private Universe, The See Here
- Occupy Crossley Street, Radiant Pavillion, Melbourne
- Attachment (group show), Quoil Gallery
- R.A.W.(group show) Wunderweek Auckland
- Occupation Anna (group show), Anna Miles Gallery
- Cross Over, The See Here
Media
- Art Jewellery Forum Interview, Aug 2014, Here
- Radio New Zealand, Arts on Sunday Interview, July 2013, Here
- Nightline Interview, TV3, Television New Zealand, 2013
Caroline Thomas
Education
- Whitireia Polytechnic, BAppA Jewellery Design, 2013
- University of Edinburgh, MA (Hons) History of Art, 1987
Awards
- 2013 Fingers Graduate Award
Exhibitions
2020
- Tread Lightly, Wellington PARK(ing) Day
- A Jeweller’s Game, Studio One – Toi Tu, Auckland
- Surface Tension, The See Here, Wellington
2019 ‘
- Handshake 5 group show at CODA Museum, Apeldoorn, The Netherlands
- SCHMUCK/SCHMOCK, NorthCity4, Brunswick, Australia
- Through A Glass Darkly, The See Here, Wellington ‘
- Te Ao Hurihui, Handshake 4 and Dialogue Collective, The Crypt Gallery, London, UK
- Annual Group Show, Fingers Gallery, Auckland
- Polarity, Handshake 4, Corban Estate Arts Centre, Auckland
- Super Positions, Stanley Street Gallery, Sydney, Australia
- Process, Handshake 4, Toi Poneke, Wellington
- On the Go, Te Auaha Gallery, Wellington
- In Case of Emergency, The See Here, Wellington
2018
- Chain Reaction, Atta Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand
- Leanings, Handshake 4, Pah Homestead, Auckland
- Recent works from Fingers Graduate Award Recipients, Fingers Gallery, Auckland
2017
- Annual Group Show, Fingers Gallery, Auckland
- Liminal Intervention: Having a Jewellery Moment, Radiant Pavilion, Melbourne, Australia
2017
- In Der National Collection, The National, Christchurch
2016
- Playthings: Contemporary Jewellery, Refinery ArtSpace, Nelson
- Locals, Quoil Contemporary Jewellery, Wellington
- Now Here: Nowhere, The See Here, Wellington
- Golden Section, Wellington PARK(ing) Day
- Ornamento: Contemporary New Zealand Jewellery, Whakatane Museum
- Untitled (highlights from Radiant Pavilion), The See Here, Wellington
2015
- Chain Show, Masterworks, Auckland
- Park Where You Want, Fort Delta, Melbourne, Australia
- Occupy Crossley Street, Radiant Pavilion, Melbourne, Australia
- Occupy Anna, Anna Miles Gallery, Auckland
- Salon des Refuses, Salon Rouge, Auckland
- Graduate Metal XIV, Danks Gallery, NSW, Australia
- R.A.W: Reactions After Wunderruma, Gallery One Oh Eight, Auckland
- Wear the Wares, SNAG, Boston, USA
- F.O.U.N.D, Objectspace, Auckland
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