Structure: Life

In this installation, Wellington based object maker and contemporary jeweller, Vaune Mason, elevates the remnants of non-human lives. She says that a tendency to focus on minute things has led her to imagine "a whole world of memories untold in the lost lives of common insects, birds and animals." The viewer is encouraged to see these constructions as Mason does; not as macabre constructions, but as testament to the innumerable, yet precious, untold lives of small animals everywhere.

Vaune Mason writes, "humankind has such a natural arrogance to suppose that our lives are worth venerating or recording. We often create small unintentional shrines to our loved ones, both living and dead. Using mementos, photos, and passed on belongings we build up stories of our lives. We bestow and communicate the value we have for an individual's life by deifying these objects. We give status as well through rich decoration and housings for these relics. We keep photos and film of these people, and by all these means, we build up construction of stuff to hang the memory of their life on. I am interested in the preciousness of things that seem very unremarkable."

A tendency to focus on minute things, Mason claims, has led her to discover "a whole world of memories untold in the lost lives of common insects, birds and animals. Their remnants, passed over as ultra ordinary or just debris, have unique value in my eyes. Their tiny and unnoticed lives are tragic in their unremarked end, and yet, how perfect were these creatures? What dramas, passions, instincts and urges drove their days? I am unable to record these happenings; all that I have left is the bones and brittle bits." Mason encourages the viewer to see these constructions as she does; not as macabre constructions but as testament to the innumerable, yet precious, untold lives of small animals everywhere.

Vaune Mason is a Wellington based object maker and contemporary jeweller.

What: Structure: Life

Where: Objectspace, 8 Ponsonby Road, Auckland www.objectspace.org.nz

When: 1 - 30 March 2011, free admission