Lisa Walker

Pushing the boundaries

Writer Damian Skinner once described Lisa Walker as a “demented DIY practitioner”. She scours hobby shops and $2 shops for materials, and turns jewellery inside out to reveal construction processes. In doing so, she questions conventional concepts about jewellery’s beauty and wearability.

Pendant incorporates the inner sole of a winter boot. Walker does not disguise it, instead decorating it with freshwater pearls and globs of paint. Necklace demonstrates her enthusiasm for the unexpected, and for glue – the very material usually hidden from view.

In 2010 Walker won the prestigious Françoise Van Den Bosch Award. She returned to New Zealand to live in 2009 after studying and working for 15 years in Germany.

Watch an interview with Lisa Walker

This text was prepared for the Collecting Contemporary exhibition, June 2011.