TBI Q&A: Vaune Mason

Jeweller and small object maker Vaune Mason talks about how the challenge of funding her work creates new collaborative opportunities. Her latest project - Alter+EGO  - is a pop-up exhibition of works by 21 artists including painters, illustrators, costumiers, jewellers and sculptors.

“Alter+EGO investigates the affections and addictions we (as artists) have with the idea of EGO.”

The gallery will be popping up throughout Wellington in a 4 ton truck called 'The Palace' during the New Zealand Fringe Festival.

During what hours of the day do you feel most inspired?

Generally late at night –any time from about 9.30 pm onwards to 2am… I am a bit of a night owl. However, there is the odd occasion where I get to my studio before 10, and I am often so excited by this rarity that I get a rush of energy and inspiration follows!

How would a good friend describe your aesthetic or style?

Whimsical, playful, slightly twisted?

What aspect of your creative practice gives you the biggest thrill?

At the moment – carving is the best thing. I am really getting a huge kick out of carving in either wax or wood. The wax goes away and is cast in metal, so there’s a bit more of a long process involved, but carving in wood is so immediate, and such a lovely material to work in!

How does your environment affect your work?

My studio needs to be warm, welcoming and light. I share my studio with 7 other artists, so it’s very important that we all get along smoothly. I don’t mind mess, but to start a project I usually need a clean slate – a clean studio. I also do a lot of work from home, and this I find really enjoyable. Both places are my sanctuary, and in some ways, because I work in both places, I have the best of both worlds. If one environment is not ringing my bell, I can move to the other one!

Do you like to look at the big picture or focus on the details?

Both! I am not sure if that’s a strength or a weakness. Being a jeweller/ small object maker I am in LOVE with the details, but I also organise events, exhibitions, and teach classes as well as doing quite a bit of publicity and marketing for both my own and others arts businesses. This being so, the big picture is like a great relief from focusing on the minutiae of my own work.

What's your number one business tip for surviving (and thriving) in the creative industries?

Know why you are making work. Sometimes the cash isn’t the only object – and it helps to keep that in perspective.

Which of your projects to date has given you the most satisfaction?

Making an engagement ring for a friend – this was a rush job, and yet the whole process, from ordering the gold, to forming it, and finishing it, was a simple, elemental task. As someone who really enjoys process, this was just a total pleasure. Of course, to top it all off, I was stoked to be the ring maker for these particular people.

Who or what has inspired you recently?

I am becoming a little obsessed with carving (as I may have mentioned already) and things that are really getting me tingly are animals – the sinuous shapes, the subtle textures of fur, feathers and skin.

Not so many things have obviously “inspired” me – in that I haven’t been breathless in awe. However, the process and results of the carving have induced a sort of craving in me that I need to explore more forms. I often talk about creating a sense of life in my work.

Tell us about the exhibition Alter+EGO and what it investigates?

Alter+EGO investigates the affections and addictions we (as artists) have with the idea of EGO. Often I think we have a sense of our identity as an artist that is almost an “alter-ego”, we can either magnify our presence in the world through our identity and persona as this “artist”, or, we can hide our real identity – as a person – behind the “artist”.

It is different for all of us, but I find this process quite fascinating to watch, and to be a part of.

I also like the word play: Alter, as in to alter, or change, and ALTER – as in something that implies worship. It is one of the  quirks of ego that we can worship our own ego, or another’s,  and this is all part of the play of being an artist, of putting ourselves and our work up to be viewed.

How did the idea come about?  What did it take to turn it into a reality?

These two next questions are sort of related:
I was doing another show in the venue (the truck) with Tom Beauchamp (the director of Fuse Circus) and we both liked the results of putting quirky arts events in the truck so much that we started thinking about what other stuff we could do. It immediately suggested something for the Fringe!

The original show we did in the venue was a sort of faux freak show (the Gallery of Oddities)  this was designed as a Fuse Circus event, and worked wonderfully.

I wanted to see how far I could push the “gallery in the truck” idea, and wanted to create a show that had a different topic. The idea of Alter+EGO was definitely inspired by my experiences working with the circus, as Alter-egos are strongly in evidence there! Also, I felt that whatever exhibition went into the truck, it had to have some form of connection to the truck’s background. Otherwise, the loud personality of the truck could confuse and detract from the whole experience.

I also wanted to see how I could use the small space inside the truck to my advantage for an exhibition.

The whole project is pretty much my baby (which means: I get to do all the hard work!) but Tom also has a vested interest in projects that take place in his truck, and has really gotten in behind the thing, helping build some of the display stuff, and is sponsoring the project with the loan of the venue and equipment. Fantastically, CNZ is the main supporter of the project – with Kakano funding through Fringe (yay!!! Thank you!!!) which is truly spectacular. I am really excited that all these people (the funding board, the artists and my sponsors) have seen the vision that I put out there.

Time wise, well, it’s a lot of time. I have been working on this amidst two other exhibitions (remounts and reworks of the Gallery of Oddities) and there’s a bit more to do yet!

Tell us a bit about the pop-up venue, I understand it has an alter-ego!

Our pop-up venue… is truly cool. It is the 4 ton truck that Fuse Circus uses to cart around the big rig and other assorted circus paraphernalia, and it is also: The Palace, mini mobile venue!

Tom Beauchamp has worked with contemporary side shows and the idea of mini venues before in Europe: the Miniscule of Sound (the worlds smallest nightclub) and also a small venue that he built and took to the Edinburgh festival: La Chat Noir which hosted a show called The Mirror Maze and won the Total Theatre Award (an award for physical theater that commends weird kooky stuff). He wanted to create something similar here, and the back of the truck was the perfect place.

The name of this marvel is a homage to his roots in Europe as well as the Oriental Bay roots of Fuse Circus – the front yard of the giant flat where Tom first set up his circus rig and his company rehearsed… fondly named and known by some few Wellingtonians as The Palace.
There is also the irony of calling a beat-up 20 year old truck The Palace, which appeals to Tom’s carnie sensibilities.

The truck transforms from humble transport option (its not terribly fast) to the cute and quirky art deco tilted venue: The Palace, with red and white striped and velvet curtains, showbiz lights and rare and amazing attractions within!

What works and artists will be featured in the exhibition?

There are 21 artists in total participating in the exhibition – I have tried to find a real mix, from commercial to experimental, emerging and established. The exhibition has two sections: 2d (paint, illustration, photography) and 3d (sculpture, textiles, jewellery.

Will it include your work? Can you tell us a bit more about what you do – as a jewellery/small object maker?

Yes – it will include a piece by me. I started off on this path intending on making jewellery, which I saw as wearable sculptures. I still make jewellery, and enjoy it very much. I make rings, and necklaces, earrings and brooches from silver and precious stones. I also carve wax and cast it into bronze, silver and gold. The jewellery I make that I term as “street wearable” which you could wear every day, is semi antique, semi industrial looking. I rough up my work before I finish it, I add in file and hammer marks, and I often oxidize (darken) my work heavily. I like to see indications of the makers process, evidence of the hand made.

More and more however, I make work that is less about wearable, and more about object. Often I am creating containers for jewellery, as well as the jewellery itself. It seems sometimes that jewellery can be isolated without somewhere to live that reflects its meaning or value.

I work quite a lot with wood, leather and silk, and have recently begun exploring hand embroidery.

I work with found objects quite a bit, lenses in particular, because of the distortion they offer, and tiny animal and insect remains. If you were to look at some of the media attention I have received, you might think that I have a bent for the macabre. This I feel is more sensationalized by the papers, than what I actually make. Certainly, when I use these fragments it’s not to be macabre or twisted, but more because I see a sense of innocence in them.
When I make an object, the most important thing for me is that it carries a sense of a voice – a sense of life with it. I want my work to connect with you in a way that sends a memory or an echo of some magical moment through you. Perhaps that sounds twee, but I do enjoy the playfulness of such moments.

Is this your day job?  If not how do you support yourself and your work?

No –  I have several “day jobs”. I support myself and my work by living on next to nothing and trying not to think about my silver bill each month! I am not actually sure how I get by, but I always do. I have been lucky with my publicity work, and with a few well timed commissions this year.

You hold workshops and jewellery classes. What do you enjoy about this and what do you learn from teaching others?

The jewellery classes are a fantastic income earner for me – a day job that doesn’t take me too far from my real job. I also enjoy the process of problem solving for the students. I am quite a people person, so the social contact of others is a nice change from the often solitary artist stuff.
I think what I learn most from these classes is to communicate better… to encourage and to have patience.

Do you have any advice for aspiring jewellery designers?

Find a good day job!!!! (I say this with a wry smile – you will need the support while you get started)

Where can we see your work (other current exhibitions)?

My work is on display at Masterworks Gallery in Auckland (this is my main gallery, and they have the biggest selection of my sculptural work), also at Quadrant Gallery in Dunedin, The National in Christchurch and Manky Chops in Wellington. I have some work in the Gallery of Oddities at the World Buskers Festival in Christchurch, on until the 31st of January.

What are the current challenges and opportunities within your sector?

Funding is an ongoing concern; jewellery is a luxury object and is not seen as an investment purchase by most arts buyers. It’s a constant challenge to find the right market for my work, to fund the material costs and to find the time (amidst the day jobs) to be inspired and to just MAKE the work itself. The recession – as hackneyed as that theme might be – makes it difficult to find a high paying day job so you can find yourself on a bit of a treadmill. But, amidst this, I see a lot of opportunities in my sector for exhibition spaces and collaborations. Particularly I am interested in working with other artists to create interactive events and exhibitions.

The digital sector is of great interest to me, as is stop motion. I am about to go back to study (3 years of Digital media) which is very exciting. I view this as a completely new branch of my practice and I am very interested to see where it takes my work.

If you could go back and choose a completely different career path to the one you've chosen, what would it be?

I often think about this question myself. And I never really get a satisfactory answer. So many things change in your life as you go through experiences and learn new skills. I think, if things were completely different, and I could be someone else, rather than the me, now, I would have liked to be more physical – perhaps a stunt person. Or maybe a fashion designer.

What place is always with you, wherever you go?

My lake – my country. I grew up in Muriwai on the West Coast of Auckland. There is a beautiful lake there, just on the edge of the farmland. I miss it, and treasure that place. I also love this country – I feel grounded here.

What's the best way to listen to music, and why?

I don’t believe there is a best way – I listen to what I feel like, usually when I am working – or trying to sleep.

You are given a piece of string, a stick and some fabric. What do you make?

A kite – or maybe a doll

What's the best stress relief advice you've ever been given?

Life has hills and valleys. Remember when you are on top of the hill, that there will be another valley. Remember when you are in a valley, there will be another hill.

What's great about today?

I got lots done!

What’s great about the Fringe Festival?

It fills so many people’s lives with fun, interesting and stimulating activity. To participate, to witness, to support the Fringe, is a very healthy cultural investment.

What’s your big idea for 2010?

Study – to grow, to stretch myself. I also have a solo show planned for late 2010 at Object Space which is very much a big idea for me, and I can’t wait!

Further information

The Alter + Ego gallery will be located:

• Odlins Plaza (the waterfront by Macs Brewery) 25th and 26th February from 12 – 7pm
• Courtenay Park cnr Taranaki St and Courtenay Place February 27th 10 – 7pm and  28th 10 – 5.
• The Wellington Railway Station, March 1st and 2nd from  10 – 4pm. 

Key Fringe Festival 2010 dates

January 28: Programme Launch
February 12: Fringe 2010 launches
March 7: Fringe Awards and festival ends