Origins & Legacy of Art Jewellery in South Africa
Timed Online Auction, 6 - 22 October 2025
Legacy
About the SessionLegacy, showcases 16 contemporary practitioners whose work reflects the movement’s enduring spirit of experimentation. Like their predecessors, these art jewellers often work with non-precious materials, producing pieces that are expressive, sculptural and conceptually adventurous. Through these wearable artworks, the artists employ art jewellery as a critical medium to reflect upon, comment on, and challenge the world around them, exploring questions of identity, place, social standing, cultural practices, and political viewpoints.
About this Item
Notes
I use the medium of jewellery design and sculptural techniques to create a fusion or amalgamation between knowledge, handcraft skills, techniques and chosen materials, as a critical discipline that allows me to reflect on my surroundings and translate my ideas into three-dimensional wearable objects and sculptures that stimulate critical thought. In my research, I have often explored the boundaries between jewellery and sculpture, and in doing so, I have questioned the body/object relationship.
I explore the dialogue between more abstract forms and figurative interpretations through which I reflect and critically engage with issues of the socio-economic forces that largely determine what we consider beautiful and desirable when we wear, buy, or create and display wearable objects, jewellery, and sculptural artworks. I use more affordable materials such as wood, plastic, ceramics, and found objects to communicate ideas of beauty and design, stripped of bling and economic status.
- Carine Terreblanche