WINDOWSMITHS
GALLERY
What Holds, What Gives
24.07.26 – 09.08.26
what Holds / what Gives brings together new jewellery and object works by Emma Wheeler and Jacki Stone, whose practices are shaped by persistence, experimentation and a deep commitment to making. Working within the rhythms and demands of everyday life, their work explores form and structure, tension and balance, control and surrender, presence and absence.
ARTIST CATALOGUE
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Q&A with Emma Wheeler & Jacki Stone
Q: What does “What Holds, What Gives” mean to each of you?
Emma: I think the exhibition title illustrates perfectly how we as creative women with families and jobs are constantly juggling our time and energy to have any creating space in our studios. As soon as Jacki came up with ‘What holds What gives’, we knew it was perfect. The questions it raises like ‘what hold us as makers’ or ‘What do we need to give (up)/ hold onto’ are so relatable to our practice. Plus I like that it is an ambiguous title, we can all bring different meanings, our own thoughts to ‘What holds What gives’.
Jacki: The title embodies the way we manage our practice, a constant navigation of time demands and emotional availability as well as how we both work. I think we both need time to sit with pieces and let them percolate and that can be difficult when you have a short window and want to make the most of it. It can feel like a constant assessment of what do you hold onto and what do you let go of both inside and outside of your practice
Q: How do you want people to feel when they see or wear your work?
Emma: I hope they are intrigued by what we have made and that they are drawn to touch and feel or wear our work. I think that we have both made quite tactile pieces. Jacki’s work is so polished and smooth, it draws the viewer into its surface and then the viewer discovers the pieces are magnetic, everyone wants to play with them, magnets are so fascinating. Whereas my series for example, “All is not lost” draws the viewer to touch, too feel the rippling effect of chainmail falling over the fingers, the movement enhances the neckpieces as its worn. Whereas in contrast the subtle prickliness of the large links in the work, “Light me up”, engages the viewer also with the added uncomfortable sense of touch. I hope that my work is seen not just as wearable pieces but as work that questions or responds to deeper thoughts.
Jacki: Our work is very visually different and while our approached can seem to be different, when looking at the materials we use, there are a lot of similarities from the subjects we explore and how we approach our practice. Personally, I hope people see the intricacies of our work while also being able to celebrate the diversity of it. I also hope that people connect with and gain and understanding of the complexities involved in being women and mothers and makers and juggling the demands of these roles.
Q: What was something unexpected that came out of working together?
Jacki: Not unexpected, but definitely one of the highlights, has been the joy of getting to know each other more. Also, I think we discovered that if you are struggling to find the time to make, then have an exhibition. All of a sudden your time at the bench becomes the biggest priority!
Q: How do you know each other?
Emma: We meet at “Brooch Club” last year. Sometimes you just meet a person that you want to keep hanging out with, so why not have an exhibition together.
Jacki: I must give Emma all the credit, it was her idea to do the exhibition and I jumped at the chance. Exactly what she said, sometimes you just meet a person that you want to keep hanging out with, so why not have an exhibition together.
Q: Why did you choose to have a collaborative exhibition?
Emma: For me, the choice to collaborate was easy, I work solo in my studio and so a chance to continue to hang out with Jacki after ‘Brooch Club’ and foster a creative relationship was not a difficult choice, plus I love her work. Having an exhibition together gave us a deadline to work towards a finished body of work. We both could draw on that final deadline and spend more time in the studio and focus more on our creativity. As well as support each other along the way, we were both dealing with similar constraints as creative women/mothers.
Jacki: It was a very ‘yep let’s do it’ moment and I think we were both in a place where we welcomed the opportunity to work alongside someone and share our practice, approach and ideas with each other and work towards a common goal. We bonded over the constraints we have with finding time to focus and work on our practice.
Q: How do your practices connect, or where do they differ?
Emma: Our work is so different, mine is so rustic, I use found objects, my inspiration comes from the patina of these found objects and then that crosses over into my finished piece, whereas Jacki’s work is so stylized and its surface is so highly polished. I think our differences complement each other. Yet our creativity comes from the same place, we are committed to making regardless, so I think our practice is similar, we make when we can, in those in-between moments and spaces.
Jacki: Our work is visually different, but we have explored similar ideas and concepts in previous work and we both connected strongly to this concept. I think the visual difference of our work comes together beautifully.
Q: Is there a story, memory or idea behind these pieces?
Emma: ‘Tea of pearls’ is inspired by my memory of both my maternal and paternal grandmothers. Having a cup of tea was a ritual I shared with each of them whenever I visited. We would put the kettle on, make tea and chat, we would talk about so many different things, they would talk of their past, they would share their memories and now I see my kids boil the kettle and make my mum a cup of tea and sit and chat when they visit her.
Jacki: A lot of my pieces are designed to be played with and that is inspired by reflecting on my own childhood but more heavily by the time spent playing with my own kids when they were younger. Play is a way to connect with the joy of childhood but also with creativity.
Q: Why did this feel like the right time to exhibit together?
Emma: I don’t know, is there ever a right time?
Jacki: I also don’t know, but it definitely felt right.
Q: What do you hope will come out of this exhibition?
Emma&Jacki: Another exhibition together.