SETTINGS & FINDINGS N.16 WITH CARA JOHNSON
by matt lambert
I admire Cara Johnson’s work for its soft ease into deep conversations around our world today. It never mollycoddles, but allows an unpacking of our constructed binary relationship between human and nature. The weight of this conversation is not on the object itself but on the object as jewelry, their titles and the materials. The choice of jewelry is both practical and poetic returning what bodies have left behind back to the body is a physical moment of connection to allow us to question the separation of human from environment. The work here asks for a pause and a moment of reflection. What do we pay attention to, and what have we left behind? Enjoy -ml
Settings
I’m a jeweller because I work with ideas associated with what jewellery represents (what is most important to me/us). My work is entwined with my settings, the place where I spend my life – I am surrounded by agricultural practices and bushland. I make through tensions, through the things that are not resolved in my mind the things that trip me up.
Findings
I scribble down little notes when something affects me, and these words help me to find a way to a new work.
Today a peppermint gum had fallen across the track
Its trunk had split open with the shock
Its leaves were still swinging in the wind as if nothing had happened
Its roots were still tangled with earth
I wish it could stay whole and slowly dissolve back to the ground, helping the track to disappear
But someone with come soon, with a chainsaw
I sat on it for a while, it felt warm
Field notes, December 2020
I admire Cara Johnson’s work for its soft ease into deep conversations around our world today. It never mollycoddles, but allows an unpacking of our constructed binary relationship between human and nature. The weight of this conversation is not on the object itself but on the object as jewelry, their titles and the materials. The choice of jewelry is both practical and poetic returning what bodies have left behind back to the body is a physical moment of connection to allow us to question the separation of human from environment. The work here asks for a pause and a moment of reflection. What do we pay attention to, and what have we left behind? Enjoy -ml
Settings
I’m a jeweller because I work with ideas associated with what jewellery represents (what is most important to me/us). My work is entwined with my settings, the place where I spend my life – I am surrounded by agricultural practices and bushland. I make through tensions, through the things that are not resolved in my mind the things that trip me up.
Findings
I scribble down little notes when something affects me, and these words help me to find a way to a new work.
Today a peppermint gum had fallen across the track
Its trunk had split open with the shock
Its leaves were still swinging in the wind as if nothing had happened
Its roots were still tangled with earth
I wish it could stay whole and slowly dissolve back to the ground, helping the track to disappear
But someone with come soon, with a chainsaw
I sat on it for a while, it felt warm
Field notes, December 2020
CARA JOHNSON
Pictures List & Credits
IMAGE ONE:
Cara Johnson
unearth II (detail) 2019
paper, iron, handmade paper thread
DESCRIPTION:
A close-up image of a hand holding a leaf form that is a rusted brown colour. There are other rusted leaf forms in the background, they appear to be being worn and connected with a string.
IMAGE TWO:
Cara Johnson
Tether 2017
found tree guards, iron
Image credit: Matthew Stanton
DESCRIPTION:
Image of a necklace taken from above. The form is wobbly and there are leafy translucent green forms attached to a dark metal.
IMAGE 3:
Cara Johnson
unearth I 2018
paper, iron, handmade paper thread
Image credit: Matthew Stanton
DESCRIPTION:
Image of a necklace taken from above. The necklace appears to be a thin string with small rusted brown colour leaf forms attached at intervals.
IMAGE 4:
Cara Johnson
Cast back I 2022
found river red gum fence post, found baling twine
Image credit: Fred Kroh
DESCRIPTION:
Image of a necklace taken from above. The necklace is comprised of many rectangular wooden beads threaded onto an orange/red plastic string. Each of the wooden beads has a carved dip in the middle of it.
IMAGE 5:
Cara Johnson
Cast back II 2022
paper, iron, found silage netting
Image: Fred Kroh
DESCRIPTION:
Image of white leafy forms in a scattered pile attached to a pale thread. Each leaf form has a central vein in a rusted metal colour.
IMAGE 6:
Cara Johnson
Verdant I 2022
willow, found baling twine, paint
Image: Fred Kroh
DESCRIPTION:
Image of a necklace taken from above. The necklace is a blue string strung with beads that are evenly spaced. Each bead is painted in a different hue of blues and greens. The necklace is finished with a knot at the top.
IMAGE 7:
Cara Johnson
Hollow (detail) 2020
Found tree guard, found silage netting
DESCRIPTION:
An image of a cream colour scoop like form appearing to be made from plastic beads. The form is cropped and there is dirt visible underneath it as though is it sitting on the ground.
IMAGE 8:
Cara Johnson
Apple Sapling 2020
apple sapling, found baling twine
Image credit: Anita Beaney
DESCRIPTION:
Image of a necklace taken from above. Necklace is made from a creamy wood that has been cut into little beads that resemble a whole stick in the way they are threaded together.
IMAGE 9:
Cara Johnson
Image: Fred Koh
DESCRIPTION:
Image of a woman with long brown hair and a denim shirt sitting on a wooden floor. In the background is a large branch supported by carpenters saw stools. The branch is wrapped with rope. Light is coming in from a window which is visible in the left of the image.
Cara Johnson
unearth II (detail) 2019
paper, iron, handmade paper thread
DESCRIPTION:
A close-up image of a hand holding a leaf form that is a rusted brown colour. There are other rusted leaf forms in the background, they appear to be being worn and connected with a string.
IMAGE TWO:
Cara Johnson
Tether 2017
found tree guards, iron
Image credit: Matthew Stanton
DESCRIPTION:
Image of a necklace taken from above. The form is wobbly and there are leafy translucent green forms attached to a dark metal.
IMAGE 3:
Cara Johnson
unearth I 2018
paper, iron, handmade paper thread
Image credit: Matthew Stanton
DESCRIPTION:
Image of a necklace taken from above. The necklace appears to be a thin string with small rusted brown colour leaf forms attached at intervals.
IMAGE 4:
Cara Johnson
Cast back I 2022
found river red gum fence post, found baling twine
Image credit: Fred Kroh
DESCRIPTION:
Image of a necklace taken from above. The necklace is comprised of many rectangular wooden beads threaded onto an orange/red plastic string. Each of the wooden beads has a carved dip in the middle of it.
IMAGE 5:
Cara Johnson
Cast back II 2022
paper, iron, found silage netting
Image: Fred Kroh
DESCRIPTION:
Image of white leafy forms in a scattered pile attached to a pale thread. Each leaf form has a central vein in a rusted metal colour.
IMAGE 6:
Cara Johnson
Verdant I 2022
willow, found baling twine, paint
Image: Fred Kroh
DESCRIPTION:
Image of a necklace taken from above. The necklace is a blue string strung with beads that are evenly spaced. Each bead is painted in a different hue of blues and greens. The necklace is finished with a knot at the top.
IMAGE 7:
Cara Johnson
Hollow (detail) 2020
Found tree guard, found silage netting
DESCRIPTION:
An image of a cream colour scoop like form appearing to be made from plastic beads. The form is cropped and there is dirt visible underneath it as though is it sitting on the ground.
IMAGE 8:
Cara Johnson
Apple Sapling 2020
apple sapling, found baling twine
Image credit: Anita Beaney
DESCRIPTION:
Image of a necklace taken from above. Necklace is made from a creamy wood that has been cut into little beads that resemble a whole stick in the way they are threaded together.
IMAGE 9:
Cara Johnson
Image: Fred Koh
DESCRIPTION:
Image of a woman with long brown hair and a denim shirt sitting on a wooden floor. In the background is a large branch supported by carpenters saw stools. The branch is wrapped with rope. Light is coming in from a window which is visible in the left of the image.