I look to the everyday stuff that accumulates in our drawers, pockets, attics, cupboards and in piles on the street. I collect traces of the encounters that have occurred between people and things, gleaning objects and materials that are worn or decayed; signs of their past and their interactions with people.
This ‘stuff’ continually alters through an ongoing exchange between humans and objects. I consider how the contact zones between people and things are examples of a networked materiality – an intersection of social, political, environmental and economic forces – pointing to an interconnectedness and complexity of everyday life.
Jewellery too, provides a networked materiality in its ability to form connections between people, environments and things. The work will continue to shift, taking on traces of new interactions as it is worn and exchanged in everyday life.
Aphra Cheesman (b. 1989, Auckland) is a New Zealander based in Naarm/Melbourne, whose practice includes contemporary jewellery, objects, drawing, video and sculpture. Aphra graduated from RMIT with a BA Fine Art (Honours) in 2020.
Aphra Cheesman