SETTINGS & FINDINGS N.7 WITH LOUISE PERRONE
SETTINGS & FINDINGS WITH LOUISE PERRONE by matt lambert:
"I first saw Louise Perrone on an elevator in Seattle Washington US during a conference in 2011. It took a few more years to really become acquainted but our conversations resulted in 5 years of co-curating The Society of North American Goldsmiths Exhibition in Motion which is a yearly exhibition of work, usually large in scale and worn live and shown in motion. Louise and I share an interest of the position or role the body plays in documenting and showing jewelry. Here she speaks about her recent solo exhibition at the Craft Council of BC Gallery in Vancouver, Canada -matt
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"The setting for the images shown here is my installation “Fruits Of My Labour” which was shown at the Craft Council of BC Gallery in Vancouver, Canada in the Fall of 2021. As a jeweller, my work is more likely to be displayed in the gift shop than the gallery; however, most visitors to galleries or museums will purchase a postcard, pencil, or pin rather than a painting. Fruits of My Labour explores the relationship between these spaces, the people who visit them, and the transactions that take place in them. The installation examines how jewellery is worn, displayed, photographed, and viewed, inviting visitors to consider what jewellery conceals and reveals about the maker, wearer, and themselves.
The framed portraits that line the gallery walls are reflected in the mirrored plinth at the centre of the space displaying an orderly still life of lycra-covered plastic fruit. The fruit has been sliced in half with a jeweller’s saw and hand-sewn into colourful fabric skins, hidden magnets allowing them to be worn on the body as jewellery. By setting the bisected fruit on mirrors, they become whole again, reflecting their missing halves, as well as the images on the wall that let the audience know they are made to be worn. Like the jewellery they are wearing, the model in the photographs is completely covered in lycra, and takes on poses reminiscent of Mannerist paintings - exaggerating and twisting the body, with a particular emphasis on elongated hand gestures. The lycra blurs and draws attention to everything it conceals, emphasizing curves and erasing markers of identity.
The decision to clothe my model in a full lycra bodysuit came long before the appearance of Kim Kardashian at the 2021 Met Gala sporting a black Balenciaga ensemble. Envisioning this work during a global pandemic, when we were still inventing ways to protect ourselves with homemade masks and disposable gloves, covering the model’s face and hands did not seem far from reality. Finding lycra bodysuits online is just a click away. Used in theatre, film, and television to create the illusion of invisibility, the suits have been adopted as fetish wear, and in the mid 2000s became popular costumes for sports fans and party-goers who realized the immediate visual impact of this simple monotone garment. I found that by erasing the model's identity and allowing their body and the background to conform to one uniform shade of grey, my jewellery lights up the photo, demands attention, and allows the viewer to engage with the image as they find it." Louise Perrone
www.louiseperrone.com
@louise.perrone instagram
Artist Talk: Louise Perrone | Fruits of My Labour Exhibition
review: fruits of my labour - Craft Council of British Columbia Craft Council of BC - review by Nathan Clark
message in a button: pin-back badges - Craft Council of British Columbia Blog post about Fruits Of My Labour written by Louise Perrone
meet Louise Perrone - Craft Council of British Columbia interview with Louise Perrone
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Artist Bio:
Louise Perrone is a Canadian textile jewellery artist whose work explores ideas about gender, labour, and sustainability. Employing techniques that combine the traditions of goldsmithing, hand sewing, and mending, she derives her materials from domestic and industrial textile and plastic waste.
Born in London, England, Louise Perrone holds a Bachelor of Art in Sculpture from the Nottingham Trent University and a Post Graduate Certificate in Art and Design Education from the University of Brighton. In 2002 Perrone graduated from Alberta College of Art and Design with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Jewellery and Metals. Exhibiting widely across Canada, the USA and Europe, Perrone’s work has featured in several publications. She is a recipient of the Governor-General of Canada’s Academic Medal and the Alberta College of Art and Design Alumni Legacy Award. She teaches in the Jewellery Department at LaSalle College Vancouver.
"I first saw Louise Perrone on an elevator in Seattle Washington US during a conference in 2011. It took a few more years to really become acquainted but our conversations resulted in 5 years of co-curating The Society of North American Goldsmiths Exhibition in Motion which is a yearly exhibition of work, usually large in scale and worn live and shown in motion. Louise and I share an interest of the position or role the body plays in documenting and showing jewelry. Here she speaks about her recent solo exhibition at the Craft Council of BC Gallery in Vancouver, Canada -matt
------------
"The setting for the images shown here is my installation “Fruits Of My Labour” which was shown at the Craft Council of BC Gallery in Vancouver, Canada in the Fall of 2021. As a jeweller, my work is more likely to be displayed in the gift shop than the gallery; however, most visitors to galleries or museums will purchase a postcard, pencil, or pin rather than a painting. Fruits of My Labour explores the relationship between these spaces, the people who visit them, and the transactions that take place in them. The installation examines how jewellery is worn, displayed, photographed, and viewed, inviting visitors to consider what jewellery conceals and reveals about the maker, wearer, and themselves.
The framed portraits that line the gallery walls are reflected in the mirrored plinth at the centre of the space displaying an orderly still life of lycra-covered plastic fruit. The fruit has been sliced in half with a jeweller’s saw and hand-sewn into colourful fabric skins, hidden magnets allowing them to be worn on the body as jewellery. By setting the bisected fruit on mirrors, they become whole again, reflecting their missing halves, as well as the images on the wall that let the audience know they are made to be worn. Like the jewellery they are wearing, the model in the photographs is completely covered in lycra, and takes on poses reminiscent of Mannerist paintings - exaggerating and twisting the body, with a particular emphasis on elongated hand gestures. The lycra blurs and draws attention to everything it conceals, emphasizing curves and erasing markers of identity.
The decision to clothe my model in a full lycra bodysuit came long before the appearance of Kim Kardashian at the 2021 Met Gala sporting a black Balenciaga ensemble. Envisioning this work during a global pandemic, when we were still inventing ways to protect ourselves with homemade masks and disposable gloves, covering the model’s face and hands did not seem far from reality. Finding lycra bodysuits online is just a click away. Used in theatre, film, and television to create the illusion of invisibility, the suits have been adopted as fetish wear, and in the mid 2000s became popular costumes for sports fans and party-goers who realized the immediate visual impact of this simple monotone garment. I found that by erasing the model's identity and allowing their body and the background to conform to one uniform shade of grey, my jewellery lights up the photo, demands attention, and allows the viewer to engage with the image as they find it." Louise Perrone
www.louiseperrone.com
@louise.perrone instagram
Artist Talk: Louise Perrone | Fruits of My Labour Exhibition
review: fruits of my labour - Craft Council of British Columbia Craft Council of BC - review by Nathan Clark
message in a button: pin-back badges - Craft Council of British Columbia Blog post about Fruits Of My Labour written by Louise Perrone
meet Louise Perrone - Craft Council of British Columbia interview with Louise Perrone
-------------------
Artist Bio:
Louise Perrone is a Canadian textile jewellery artist whose work explores ideas about gender, labour, and sustainability. Employing techniques that combine the traditions of goldsmithing, hand sewing, and mending, she derives her materials from domestic and industrial textile and plastic waste.
Born in London, England, Louise Perrone holds a Bachelor of Art in Sculpture from the Nottingham Trent University and a Post Graduate Certificate in Art and Design Education from the University of Brighton. In 2002 Perrone graduated from Alberta College of Art and Design with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Jewellery and Metals. Exhibiting widely across Canada, the USA and Europe, Perrone’s work has featured in several publications. She is a recipient of the Governor-General of Canada’s Academic Medal and the Alberta College of Art and Design Alumni Legacy Award. She teaches in the Jewellery Department at LaSalle College Vancouver.
Picture Credits
Picture Credits
