Nicole Polentas: Psychomanteum
Exhibition
/
10 Nov 2012
-
01 Dec 2012
Published: 02.11.2012
Gallery Loupe
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- contact
galleryloupe.com
- Phone:
- 973.744.0061
- 973.744.0062
- Management:
- Patti Bleicher and Eileen David

Gallery Loupe will bring Polentas' work to the United States for her first solo exhibition in this country. Polentas has created her personal psychomanteum made of plinths to display her jewelry. The installation includes water which re-creates the aquatic area where one could commune with the gods.
Artist list
Nicole Polentas
Nicole Polentas currently resides in Australia, but her connections to her family's origins in Crete are an important influence on her jewelry. An accomplished gold and silversmith, she draws on her Greek heritage for inspiration and for the unique manner in which she exhibits her current body of work in a setting meant to depict the psychomanteum - the naturally occurring rockpools of myth where ancient Greeks would go to consult the oracles.
Polentas has created her personal psychomanteum made of plinths to display her jewelry. The installation includes water which re-creates the aquatic area where one could commune with the gods. The jewelry pieces themselves are fascinating and intricate constructions of metal wire and steel sheets, sterling silver, plastic and paint, ornamented with personal photographs and bits of traditional music from Crete known as riztitka. For the artist, the song fragments are a bridge to her sense of belonging to a place she is rooted in but no longer lives. Her past and present become connected in her very personal jewelry.
About Nicole Polentas
A former student of the well-known Australian educator and artist, Robert Baines, Polentas is a Ph.D candidate in philosophy at RMIT University (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology), the same institution from which she received her bachelor's and master's degrees in fine arts. Her work has been exhibited at the Counihan Gallery, Melbourne; The Hellenic Museum, Melbourne; Keeper Gallery, Sydney, Galerie Marzee, The Netherlands; and numerous other venues. It was also included in a group show at Gallery Loupe in 2011 entitled Australian Jewellery Topos.
Polentas' awards include the Australian Postgraduate Award, the Contemporary Wearables Biennial Jewellery Award, and the Diana Morgan Gold and Silversmithing First Prize. Her work has been featured in numerous publications and is in the permanent collection of RMIT University, Melbourne; the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney; and Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery, Queensland.
Polentas has created her personal psychomanteum made of plinths to display her jewelry. The installation includes water which re-creates the aquatic area where one could commune with the gods. The jewelry pieces themselves are fascinating and intricate constructions of metal wire and steel sheets, sterling silver, plastic and paint, ornamented with personal photographs and bits of traditional music from Crete known as riztitka. For the artist, the song fragments are a bridge to her sense of belonging to a place she is rooted in but no longer lives. Her past and present become connected in her very personal jewelry.
About Nicole Polentas
A former student of the well-known Australian educator and artist, Robert Baines, Polentas is a Ph.D candidate in philosophy at RMIT University (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology), the same institution from which she received her bachelor's and master's degrees in fine arts. Her work has been exhibited at the Counihan Gallery, Melbourne; The Hellenic Museum, Melbourne; Keeper Gallery, Sydney, Galerie Marzee, The Netherlands; and numerous other venues. It was also included in a group show at Gallery Loupe in 2011 entitled Australian Jewellery Topos.
Polentas' awards include the Australian Postgraduate Award, the Contemporary Wearables Biennial Jewellery Award, and the Diana Morgan Gold and Silversmithing First Prize. Her work has been featured in numerous publications and is in the permanent collection of RMIT University, Melbourne; the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney; and Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery, Queensland.
Neckpiece: The National Reconciliation and the Fool - Hero, 2012
Photo/image, plastic, glass powder
42,5 x 26,5 x 6,8 m
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Ring: The Metamorphosis of Splantzia part 2, 2010
Sterling silver, paint
7 x 3,5 x 4 cm
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Brooch: Karagiozilikia Look Where I am!, 2011
Photo/image, plastic, glass powder, stainless steel
13 x 10 x 4,9 cm
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Ring: The Metamorphosis of Splantzia part 1, 2010
18K gold
4,5 x 3,8 x 4 cm
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Brooch: Die hab ich satt, 2012
Sterling silver, veneer, Greek coffee, glass powder, paint, image, stainless steel
14,5 x 13 x 6 cm
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Brooch: Greek Madness and Other Stereotypes (MoU), 2012
Sterling silver, paint, veneer, image, stainless steel
13 x 14 x 5 cm
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Ring: Riza, 2012
Gold alloy, sterling silver
4 x 2,5 x 2,2 cm
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Brooch: Propaganda Politeia, 2012
Sterling silver, paint, epoxy, marble, veneer, image, stainless steel
12 x 11 x 4,5 cm
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Gallery Loupe
- Mail:
- contact
galleryloupe.com
- Phone:
- 973.744.0061
- 973.744.0062
- Management:
- Patti Bleicher and Eileen David
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