Surreal Adornments for the Body & Mind

Fri 19th February – Wed 17th March 2010

Alongside Claire du Bosky's exhibition: BEING THERE: huts, barns & beehives, KINA Gallery was proud to showcase an exciting range of contemporary jewellery by ‘Surreal Silversmith’ Marty Jestin.

After working for many years as a manufacturing jeweller in both New Zealand and Philadelphia (USA), Marty set up his own studio creating his own signature style of contemporary jewellery and wearable art.

Marty explains his unique style of jewellery making as such:

Words for me have always been a ‘jingle jangle’ of pictures and symbols. I’ve always thought in pictures and words spoken to me are always interpreted as pictures.

This creates confusion as the images I see are always literal interpretations of the words spoken.

Working as a silversmith enables me to anchor these surreal pictographs from behind my eyes, by making them into 3-dimensional sculptures, to graphically illustrate to others that there’s more to words… than meets the eye and ear.

Using a wide range of recycled and found objects in his pieces, Marty’s aim is to encourage an alternative way of communicating, through art that is unexpected yet fascinating.