Silversmiths are rare these days but for Jenny Mason metal work has been an interest for many years and she is now able to focus on her craft and make interestingly beautiful jewellery with precious metals and found objects.
Michelle Barber: What is your background?
Jenny Mason: I was born and raised in London, although my parents are Americans. They persuaded me that I should experience life in the US, so I studied at Skidmore College in upstate New York, which is where I was first introduced to silversmithing, and met my husband, Paul. I completed a degree in English, while taking all the metalwork classes on offer. Paul and I were keen to travel, and in 1997 we took around the world trip and discovered New Zealand, where we instantly felt at home. As soon as we got back to London we applied for residency and moved out here a year later. Arriving in New Zealand we worked at Cardrona ski field, but when the season ended we had to decide where to settle. We drove around the country for six weeks, sleeping in a tent and trying to find the perfect spot (there were many) where we would be able to find work (this was harder). Then one morning, unzipping our tent beside the sea at Whakanewha, we realised that we had found it. I was lucky enough to meet Paora Toi te Rangiuaia, who had an extra bench space at his jewellery studio in Oneroa. Paora was incredibly patient and helpful to me as a complete novice, and always willing to take time out from what he was doing to explain a technique or give advice, but jewellery was still something I did in addition to working full time as a graphic designer. When Paul and I started a family it just became too difficult to fit everything in, and I put my metalwork on the back burner.
MB: How long have you been making art?
JM: I have always been a maker. One of my earliest memories is of playing with some florescent pink cardboard and a pair of scissors. I was still young enough that playing with scissors felt like a dangerous privilege, and by folding, cutting, and poking holes, I created a cube with a face on each side. I remember cutting a fringe of paper, and curling the fringe up – presto! Eyelashes! I was in a total state of flow, and utterly happy and proud of myself for creating something out of a piece of paper. My father also has a strong creative streak, he made me an incredible fully furnished doll house, and tiny working steam engines, model boats and perpetual motion clocks and tinkered with electronics. When I was older he used to let me loose in his workshop with a soldering iron and I would make birds and other creatures out of wire and leftover electronic components.
MB: What does your work aim to say if anything? It doesn’t have to “say” anything but moreover, what does it say to you?
JM: Silversmithing is sometimes almost a form of meditation. You are immersed in creation, and it takes time, which allows you to slow down, for thoughts to flow, and for you to think deeply about what you are making. Concentration is important, and it is a wonderful antidote to today’s always on, always connected, easily distracted thought processes. I’ve been using a lot of found objects, primarily beach glass, but also pebbles, vintage beads and silverware. I love taking something that has little relative value but a beautiful form and elevating it by incorporating it with precious metals and stones. Found objects conjure ideas about transformation and impermanence, connect us to the past and remind us of universal human themes. But often my work is just a response to something I’ve seen, a plant, a view, a bird. A way of exploring something I find beautiful, or recreating it in different materials, trying to capture it in a different medium.
MB: Who are your biggest artistic influences?
JM: Adornment is such a universal human impulse, so working in jewellery your influences can span millennia and reach around the globe. I’m fascinated and humbled by the intricate work you see in museums, created by artisans working with the most basic tools, sometimes even thousands of years ago. There are so many hidden stories behind a piece of jewellery; is it a love token, a status symbol, or a memento? Does it commemorate an occasion, or identify it’s wearer in some way? Does it represent portable material assets, describe the relationships of the owner, or speak of a specific time in human history, politics and technology. Or is it just beautiful because that’s valid in itself. MB: What else do you do? And does this influence your work? JM: I still work as a graphic designer as well as a jeweller. My design work is almost always on a computer, and the technology is amazing, but a very different process from my metal work. A lot of people use technology in the jewellery field today, with CAD, laser cutting, 3d modelling and printing. I’ve been tempted to investigate this, as it’s a natural extension of my graphic design work, but ultimately what I love about the work I do in the jewellery studio is that it takes me away from screens and automation. It’s hands-on, often grubby work, with flames, abrasives and chemical processes. There is no ctrl Z when you make a mistake, so you need to consider possible outcomes before you start, think through the best way to approach a problem, and be willing to work through the process in real time with tangible materials. Most of my jewellery work is either unique or very limited edition. I’m not interested in mass production, which technology makes much easier, and more invested in the process itself.
MB: How are you coping with lockdown? Are you more productive during lockdown? Does your work reflect what’s currently happening? (i.e., does lockdown/isolation influence your work?)
JM: I wasn’t able to go to my studio at level 4 as it’s not at my own home, so I spent a lot of time thinking up designs and ordering materials – I’ve got some stunning stones to work with now. It was wonderful to get back into creating when we went into level 3. I had a moment of pure joy that first day back in the studio when I realised how happy I was again, just tinkering, working things out, and playing with metal.
Michelle Barber is the owner/operator of Artisphere.co.nz.