Vanessa Arthur is interested in “looking in wonder,” exploring connections between jewellery, paint, and our everyday surroundings. In Wonder Goggles, Arthur presents wearable and painted objects crafted from offcuts, precious metals, stones, and industrial materials. Her installation draws connections between the vast, awe-inspiring landscapes of nature and the smaller, mundane details of human-built environments.
The exhibition is partly inspired by Arthur’s first memory of wonder: at four years old, witnessing Halley’s Comet blaze across the sky in 1986 — one of only a few comets visible to the naked eye from Earth, appearing roughly every 75-80 years. This experience underpins her work Rubble Hubble, inspired by a painted and marked public wall she has reinterpreted as a night sky. Silver staples and ripped metal ‘paper’ form a comet and diffuse spray paint, galaxies.
Arthur experiments with ways of shifting scale and focus, creating unconventional structures for observation. A central metal hanging system, inspired by roadside signage and hand-crafted eyewear invite viewers to see familiar materials anew. In doing so, the artist encourages a deeper connection to the act of looking and celebrates the wonder of everyday awe.
Vanessa Arthur is a jeweller and artist based in Heretaunga Hastings. She has exhibited nationally and internationally for more than a decade. In 2011, she completed a Bachelor of Applied Arts at Whitireia NZ, and shortly afterwards was selected for Handshake, a leading national mentorship programme for contemporary jewellers. Since then, Arthur has regularly exhibited at key platforms, including Munich Jewellery Week, one of the most influential events for international contemporary jewellery.
E ngākaunui ana a Vanessa Arthur ki te “whakamīharo atu”, arā, te tūhura i ngā hononga o ngā taonga whakapaipai, te peita me ngā āhuatanga o te ia rā. I Wonder Goggles, ka whakaatuhia e Arthur ngā mea hei mau me ngā mea kua peitahia, i hangaia i ngā toenga rauemi, i ngā konganuku tongarewa, i ngā pōhatu me ngā rawa ahumahi. Ka whakaatu āna mahi i ngā hononga o ngā whakamīharotanga maha o te taiao ki ngā āhuatanga moroiti o ngā taiao nā te tangata i hanga.
He hua te whakaaturanga nō te maharatanga tuatahi o Arthur mō tēnei mea te whakamīharo: nōna e whā tau ana, ka kite ia i te Whetūrere o Halley e mura ana i te rangi i te 1986 — tētahi o ngā whetūrere torutoru ka kitea e te kanohi i Papatūānuku, ka puta mai i ia 75-80 tau. Ko tēnei wheako te tūāpapa o āna mahi i Rubble Hubble, he mea whakaaweawe e tētahi pātū tūmatanui kua peitatia, ā, kua whakaatuhia anō hei pō. He makatiti hiriwa, he pepa rino kua haehaetia hei whetūrere, ā, ko te peita whakarehu hei whakaatu i te mango roa.
E whakamātau ana a Arthur i ngā huarahi rerekē ki te panoni i te rahi me te arotahi mā te waihanga i ngā hanganga rerekē hei tirohanga mā te katoa. Ko tētahi pūnaha whakairi konganuku kei waenganui, i whakaaweahia e ngā tohu rori me ngā mōhiti nā te ringatoi i hanga kia rerekē te titiro a te marea ki ēnei momo rawa. Ka akiaki te ringatoi i tētahi hononga ki tēnei mea te mātakitaki, ā, ka whakanuia te mīharo o ngā āhuatanga o te ia rā.
He kaihanga taonga whakapaipai, he ringatoi hoki a Vanessa Arthur. Kei Heretaunga e noho ana. Kua neke atu i te tekau tau e whakaaturia ana āna mahi i te motu whānui, i tāwāhi anō hoki. Nō te 2011 puta ai tana ihu i te Tohu Paetahi Toi i Whitireia, i Aotearoa, ā, nō muri tata mai ka tohua ia mō te hōtaka ārahi ā-motu e rongonui ana, mō Handshake, mō ngā kaihanga taonga whakapaipai hou. Mai i taua wā he rite tonu tana whakaatu i āna mahi ki ngā kaupapa nui, pēnei i te wiki o Munich Jewellery, tētahi o ngā hui whakaaweawe ā-motu mō ngā taonga whakapaipai.
