Peter - Day 11 - I got to meet Shari Pierce

One of Manilla's miserable hearts.

Another hectic day of gallery viewings, and we still got quite a large amount to see. Good luck to us.

Since today was the last day that her exhibition, I made it quite clear that day we must see Shari Pierce's exhibition as she is one of my favourite jewellery artist. In Pierce's work, when is always able to put a strong political message behind her work, which including having a necklace with 300 sex offenders in a 5 mile radius of the show.

So we arrived at "Te mato por que te amo," the due exhibition of Jorge Manilla and Shari Pierce. I look at Manilla's work before I went to look at Pierce's, and it was an interesting and dark series of necklaces that look like rotting miserable hearts. Then it was time to look at Pierce's work, which was very simple and a calm contrast to that of Manilla's.

"He loves me he loves me not" bed sheet.

The cut out flowers.

On one wall stood at huge floral bed sheet with all the flowers cut out it and laid on the floor, then opposite, a necklace with the Orange skins in the shape in middle of the dripping honey frame. Then, hidden away a corner next to a heater was this blue picture covered with, what I presumed was, muslin. To me, knowing of Pierce's work on sex offenders, I interpreted as a continuation of that them of sexual abuse, that a women lost her childhood to an awful situation, taking away the fruit of life with in her.

The bare orange necklace with the dripping honey frame

I then asked Pierce if she would mind explaining her work, and I explained to her my interpretation of her work and the reason behind it. Pierce seemed to be happy that I, a student from Sydney, knew of her work and explain that it could have been what I interpreted but that it was more about the relationship for a woman's perspective, so the bed sheet with the flowers cut was an installation piece playing on the old "he loves me, he loves me not," in which the necklace with the fruitless oranges and honeyed frame was the aftermath of the ending of the relationship, that you are left with nothing anymore. Then she points out the picture was simply a guy wearing some mandarins around his neck, maybe the ex lover?

The photo with the cut out face.

After that, I repeatedly said thanks you so much and left with the other to continue on a ways of seeing exhibitions, giddy with excitement of meeting one of your favourite artists. But on a serious note, it was an interesting exhibition, both the artist complimenting in balance. Yet it was also quite interesting with my reaction to Pierce's work of this show, how my interpretation was different from her original intention.


Does this mean it that if the artist's work is too well known, does it affect the meaning of their work, even if they tried to branch off and do something else? I mean, of course some artists over the years can have their original style change, but once their work is know, is the art society restricting them to do that type of work? As far as I can see, this is a problem for the young artist because of they want to try and making a living from being makers. Whereas so the older and extremely well known, it not a problem for them because either their famous and they can do anything they want because it them, or they are simply bored of people liking this work.

It is also interesting what a huge society or culture can do to one's work.