Fran Carter

Sketches for imagined jewellery

17 December 2017 - 20 January 2018

Heat formed plastic bags, No. 8 wire (coat hangers).

The nature of the creative process can be torturous. Sometimes we need ways to kick-start our drive.

One approach I use is the ‘Quick Fire’ method. With this technique low-tech methods and non-precious materials are employed to make simple models. The emphasis is on play and experimentation rather than following one’s natural inclination to produce finished work or polished ideas. The aim is to prompt new ideas for further exploration and to prepare the ground for successful making.

For this series of Quick Fire ‘sketches’ I’ve taken my jeweller’s gas torch to heat-form used plastic shopping bags into abstract forms, which are then applied to accommodating ‘jewellery frames’ manipulated from No.8 wire coat hangers.

Fundamentally, the Quick Fire method appeals to our colloquial tradition of using a bit of ‘Kiwi ingenuity’. Problem solving with limited resources, which is a practice I’ve been raised by and has been instilled into my values.

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Fran Carter is a Wellington local who has studied contemporary jewellery through Whitireia NZ where she recently gained her BA and Graduate Diploma in Applied Visual Arts.

Fran sees her work as a way to explore materiality and bridge thinking into form. She is interested in process as much as the outcome and is especially drawn to working with repurposed materials that carry existing connotations.

Contact: jewels.create@gmail.com | Instagram @francarter_jewels #quickfire