Debbie Adamson, 21, studied at Otago Polytechnic School of Art, Dunedin

Her collection

“I intended to make new pieces for this showcases but these will extend from my existing body of work. My most recent pieces explore identity in post-colonial New Zealand through the use of materials (specific to my rural background).”

Gumboot rubber, chicken wire, enamel and other elements from physical boundaries have been re-formed and represented as forms of adornment. They become cultural configurations, playing with tensions of comfort and discomfort that surround the badge of colonialism. Moving from the context of utility on the farm to the status of jewellery on the body, they become definitive of, and defined by, the individual wearer.

“When worn, a piece of jewellery offers an encounter – sometimes private and other times public, often personal and in many ways social. The body is not only its vehicle, but also its frame of reference. It engages within this context – as an extension, as ornamentation or as an article of symbolism. As a form of communication, jewellery creates conversations.”