Porcelain, glaze, hangs to 33cm (overall length 45cm).
The Perles d'Artiste series, first exhibited in 2011, was a key moment in Manon van Kouswijk's exploration of the beaded necklace as an archetype. Each porcelain bead was made by squashing porcelain between the artist's fingers, with each necklace revealing an increasing complexity depending how many fingers were brought to bear on the clay.
Manon van Kouswijk is a Dutch artist and contemporary jeweller who lives and works in Melbourne. Manon likes to think that it’s possible to reinvent jewellery, despite the fact that its archetypal forms and motifs haven’t fundamentally changed throughout its long history. She views these archetypes as templates that she uses for her translations of the jewellery types she works from (for example the beaded necklace). The traces of the making process are often visible in Manon’s work. The imperfection of the handmade, present in marks of fingerprints and moulds, is an integral part of the objects. While originating from a conceptual approach to making at the same time her works embrace the sensual qualities of jewellery objects in the use of colour, their weight, sound, rhythm and material expression.
