Kiri Schumacher Jewellery, Auckland

Pohutukawa, Koromiko, Fuchsia and Rengarenga – Kiri's jewellery draws on the beauty of surrounding flora.

Inspired by small plant details such as leaves, buds and pods, Kiri refines structure back to its simplest form; focusing on one aspect of a design to draw out the essence of its shape. Like smoothed bone, rock, and shell worn back to elemental forms.

Kiri has an Elam degree in Fine Arts and an Art History degree from Auckland University. She studies structure in its physical sense and also in relation to deeper themes within human adornment and nature. "We make sense of the world around us through collective myth. Feminine, filigree designs draw an association with a fairytale aesthetic."

She appreciates physical form in itself, while also referencing the wider rituals and rhythms that play a part in sculpting her silver, pearls and gold. Kiri's jewellery evokes traditional ritual objects - Catholic rosary beads and Pacific lei. She particularly values the honouring and celebratory nature of the Pacifica aesthetic.

She has a fond relationship with the various metals of her craft and their temperaments when heated, shaped, hammered and carved. Jewellery tools themselves have also endeared themselves to her – the miniature hammers, diamond tipped drill bits, and tiny saw blades and files.

Growing up in Taranaki, Kiri now lives in Auckland and exhibits throughout New Zealand and the UK.