SETTINGS & FINDINGS N.14 WITH MELISSA CAMERON
by matt lambert
I first met Melissa Cameron during a Society of North American Goldsmiths Conference, the annual gathering for SNAG when she was based in Seattle Washington U.S. Now based again in Australia, Melissa is known for her integration of manual and digital tools to illustrate deep research often with a political edge or examination of space. Concepts and conversations are never blunt but unravel using poetics and a visual language I am always captivated by. Melissa is someone I often point to for the value of the visual arts in research. Here she touches on some of her practice and I invite you to dive into her own website which unpacks the details of the lines of thought she examines. Enjoy! -ml
Setting, to me, is about space. My first career was in interior architecture - I practiced for about five years - so my thoughts for setting are often about architectural space. On the body, the setting defines the parameters, or limits, of a space to be adorned. Still a form of spatial analysis. What setting will work best for the idea I’m communicating?
Same goes for how I collaborate with the objects that will make the work - recycled or otherwise. The location of a motif that will be inserted into or drawn out from an existing object needs to have the right arrangement, both for the message being applied, and for the object being used.
The message? That’s the result of my findings.
Findings are the results of my investigations; I absorb things around me, and when I am full (I describe it as filling up like a sponge) I see what, of all the things I have absorbed, is the most arresting, even antagonising. I chase that – to paraphrase Paul Klee - I take a line for a walk, a line of questioning. I research around an idea and analyse its connections, see if it’s robust enough, and how it might take form. I generally research online because I want my sources to be transparent, checkable by anyone with access to the internet. The last distillation of that process, my findings, are what then become the work.
Combine the findings – the message, the most suitable material, with the setting – a body, the wall, in a space, on a person, and the work is found. It is pulled into existence. I have to trust this process, as what results can be hard to reconcile immediately. Sometimes new things have to get used to being in the world, or, I specifically have to get used to what I have exposed from my own psyche.
Some works lean harder on space - the setting. Others lean harder on the results of research - my findings. The ebb and flow allows for expansion of both sides.
/ links /
https://www.melissacameron.net/blog/
https://www.instagram.com/melissacameronjeweller/?hl=en
I first met Melissa Cameron during a Society of North American Goldsmiths Conference, the annual gathering for SNAG when she was based in Seattle Washington U.S. Now based again in Australia, Melissa is known for her integration of manual and digital tools to illustrate deep research often with a political edge or examination of space. Concepts and conversations are never blunt but unravel using poetics and a visual language I am always captivated by. Melissa is someone I often point to for the value of the visual arts in research. Here she touches on some of her practice and I invite you to dive into her own website which unpacks the details of the lines of thought she examines. Enjoy! -ml
Setting, to me, is about space. My first career was in interior architecture - I practiced for about five years - so my thoughts for setting are often about architectural space. On the body, the setting defines the parameters, or limits, of a space to be adorned. Still a form of spatial analysis. What setting will work best for the idea I’m communicating?
Same goes for how I collaborate with the objects that will make the work - recycled or otherwise. The location of a motif that will be inserted into or drawn out from an existing object needs to have the right arrangement, both for the message being applied, and for the object being used.
The message? That’s the result of my findings.
Findings are the results of my investigations; I absorb things around me, and when I am full (I describe it as filling up like a sponge) I see what, of all the things I have absorbed, is the most arresting, even antagonising. I chase that – to paraphrase Paul Klee - I take a line for a walk, a line of questioning. I research around an idea and analyse its connections, see if it’s robust enough, and how it might take form. I generally research online because I want my sources to be transparent, checkable by anyone with access to the internet. The last distillation of that process, my findings, are what then become the work.
Combine the findings – the message, the most suitable material, with the setting – a body, the wall, in a space, on a person, and the work is found. It is pulled into existence. I have to trust this process, as what results can be hard to reconcile immediately. Sometimes new things have to get used to being in the world, or, I specifically have to get used to what I have exposed from my own psyche.
Some works lean harder on space - the setting. Others lean harder on the results of research - my findings. The ebb and flow allows for expansion of both sides.
/ links /
https://www.melissacameron.net/blog/
https://www.instagram.com/melissacameronjeweller/?hl=en
Melissa Cameron
Pictures List & Credits
Captions - Melissa Cameron - 2023
1/ Tobacco Tin Set, 2009
recycled steel tin, stainless steel
multi-layered pin of dark grey metal, made from lid of tobacco tin, as shown in background
2/ Cigarette Case Set, 2009
silver cigarette case, stainless steel, silk thread
ornately inscribed silver cigarette case with layered pendant made from its centre floating above it
3/ Untitled (Pattern in Metal #4), 2010
stainless steel laser cut,
sheet stainless steel with 5 rosette patterns laser cut into its form around a central smaller pattern
4/ Infinity Affinity III, 2011
Recycled plated steel baking dish, stainless steel, mild steel, 925 silver
Collection + image: National Gallery of Australia
large brooch of angular parts (based on the Koch fractal) in front of pie tin from which it was cut
5/ Left: Tank - M1 Abrams (neckpiece)
1200 Shot Round (breastplate)
2013
Non-stick coated steel, stainless steel cable, silver solder
Collection of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
a tank shape neckpiece is cut from a non-stick pan. the pan has 100’s of holes drilled into it
Right: Cannon - Seven Personnel (neckpiece)
11 RPH Cannon (brooch)
2013
Vintage Japanese lacquer ware, cotton thread, copper
Collection of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
a neckpiece of lacquered wood (taken from the plate behind it) sits next to the tank pendant. The lacquered wood plate has a cannon cut into it, and an oversized brooch fitting attached above.
6/ Attempts to Kill… (Drone part I), 2016
mild steel tortilla pan from Mexico City, stainless steel, vitreous enamel, titanium
square two-toned metal sequins amass in a circular shape. at centre, the support mesh is exposed and a shape of a drone mid-flight appears
7/ Attempts to Kill… (Drone part I), 2016
(as worn by the artist)
mild steel tortilla pan from Mexico City, stainless steel, vitreous enamel, titanium
square two-toned metal sequins amass in a circular shape. at centre, the support mesh is exposed and a shape of a drone mid-flight appears. as worn by a crying white woman with short red hair.
8/ Social Unit \|-/, 2017
stainless steel, vitreous enamel, titanium
pixelated trans, female, disabled and male bathroom symbols made from two-toned parts and chain
9/ 1.1.2017, 2018
(installation image)
sourced objects, steel ball chain, paper tags, ink
dozens of containers with gun-shaped holes in them, below seven rows of chains on which the gun-pendants are strung.
10/ 1.1.2017, 2018
(gun pendants as worn)
sourced objects, steel ball chain, paper tags, ink
over 50 people wearing gun-pendants on military ball-chain looking up at the camera
11/ work from the exhibition Marfa, TX, 2019
steel objects picked up from the ground in Marfa, stainless steel, 750 gold, vitreous enamel
a large mosquito-reminiscent pin, two more rectilinear looking brooches and a gold and rusty steel bracelet pictured on stationery from a hotel in Marfa, Tx.
12/ Everything Must Go, 2020
steel sales rack, stainless steel chain, CMYK print on paper, mdf board
an apple-green wire-frame sales rack with 3 rows of the stand removed that have been made into over a dozen neckpieces which hang from the remaining rack arms
13/ Juukan Tears, 2021
(as installed at John Curtin Gallery, Curtin University)
galvinised steel (from the artists back shed), chromed steel chain
a 4m tall image of a high-rise building in serrated metal, which reads Rio Tinto at its top, next to 46 steel chains made from teardrop shapes (taken from the building linework)
All images by Melissa Cameron, unless noted otherwise.
1/ Tobacco Tin Set, 2009
recycled steel tin, stainless steel
multi-layered pin of dark grey metal, made from lid of tobacco tin, as shown in background
2/ Cigarette Case Set, 2009
silver cigarette case, stainless steel, silk thread
ornately inscribed silver cigarette case with layered pendant made from its centre floating above it
3/ Untitled (Pattern in Metal #4), 2010
stainless steel laser cut,
sheet stainless steel with 5 rosette patterns laser cut into its form around a central smaller pattern
4/ Infinity Affinity III, 2011
Recycled plated steel baking dish, stainless steel, mild steel, 925 silver
Collection + image: National Gallery of Australia
large brooch of angular parts (based on the Koch fractal) in front of pie tin from which it was cut
5/ Left: Tank - M1 Abrams (neckpiece)
1200 Shot Round (breastplate)
2013
Non-stick coated steel, stainless steel cable, silver solder
Collection of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
a tank shape neckpiece is cut from a non-stick pan. the pan has 100’s of holes drilled into it
Right: Cannon - Seven Personnel (neckpiece)
11 RPH Cannon (brooch)
2013
Vintage Japanese lacquer ware, cotton thread, copper
Collection of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
a neckpiece of lacquered wood (taken from the plate behind it) sits next to the tank pendant. The lacquered wood plate has a cannon cut into it, and an oversized brooch fitting attached above.
6/ Attempts to Kill… (Drone part I), 2016
mild steel tortilla pan from Mexico City, stainless steel, vitreous enamel, titanium
square two-toned metal sequins amass in a circular shape. at centre, the support mesh is exposed and a shape of a drone mid-flight appears
7/ Attempts to Kill… (Drone part I), 2016
(as worn by the artist)
mild steel tortilla pan from Mexico City, stainless steel, vitreous enamel, titanium
square two-toned metal sequins amass in a circular shape. at centre, the support mesh is exposed and a shape of a drone mid-flight appears. as worn by a crying white woman with short red hair.
8/ Social Unit \|-/, 2017
stainless steel, vitreous enamel, titanium
pixelated trans, female, disabled and male bathroom symbols made from two-toned parts and chain
9/ 1.1.2017, 2018
(installation image)
sourced objects, steel ball chain, paper tags, ink
dozens of containers with gun-shaped holes in them, below seven rows of chains on which the gun-pendants are strung.
10/ 1.1.2017, 2018
(gun pendants as worn)
sourced objects, steel ball chain, paper tags, ink
over 50 people wearing gun-pendants on military ball-chain looking up at the camera
11/ work from the exhibition Marfa, TX, 2019
steel objects picked up from the ground in Marfa, stainless steel, 750 gold, vitreous enamel
a large mosquito-reminiscent pin, two more rectilinear looking brooches and a gold and rusty steel bracelet pictured on stationery from a hotel in Marfa, Tx.
12/ Everything Must Go, 2020
steel sales rack, stainless steel chain, CMYK print on paper, mdf board
an apple-green wire-frame sales rack with 3 rows of the stand removed that have been made into over a dozen neckpieces which hang from the remaining rack arms
13/ Juukan Tears, 2021
(as installed at John Curtin Gallery, Curtin University)
galvinised steel (from the artists back shed), chromed steel chain
a 4m tall image of a high-rise building in serrated metal, which reads Rio Tinto at its top, next to 46 steel chains made from teardrop shapes (taken from the building linework)
All images by Melissa Cameron, unless noted otherwise.
