Exhibition Insight… Zoe Grigoris: Social Medea
Zoe Grigoris, Social Medea, 2021. Photography by Julian Hatch.
Zoe Grigoris creates romantic, feminine and ethereal jewellery that speaks to the sentimental role of these objects in preserving and maintaining the wonderment of the past. Her work features whimsical elements such as intricately detailed patterns, dreamy painterly finishes, pretty motifs such as hearts, flowers and petals, and delicate components with subtle movement. In addition to the beauty of nature, Grigoris is inspired by memory, with themes of nostalgia, daydreams and the ephemeral deeply embedded within the conceptual fabric of her making.
Words by Caitlin Eyre.
Images courtesy of the artist.
Zoe Grigoris, Hearts Necklace, 2021, 24ct gold plate, 925 silver,
46 mm.
In Social Medea, her first solo exhibition, Grigoris presents a collection of new jewellery pieces alongside a number of newly developed large-scale wall works. This collection is inspired by the ways in which memory can shift, transform and fade at the edges over time, and how wearing jewellery can preserve and keep these memories close to us. “I’m really interested in the ways in which we tie ourselves to memories and the relationship that has with jewellery,” Grigoris says. “I like that jewellery has the ability to transport you somewhere new or into the past.” While the jewellery collection features all the hallmarks of Grigoris’ distinctive style, the wall works present her with new ways of making and working. This pathway into decorative objects provides Grigoris with the opportunity to work on a larger scale and to use pattern in a more uninhibited way.
“I’m really interested in the ways in which we tie ourselves to memories and the relationship that has with jewellery…I like that jewellery has the ability to transport you somewhere new or into the past.”
Working primarily in precious and base metals, Grigoris balances methodical processes with a relaxed approach to making that allows her to develop her pieces through play, experimentation and happy accidents. Grigoris’ pieces are entirely handmade, beginning with flat sheets or wire in copper, silver, gold or brass held in place with red pitch. She uses the traditional mark-making techniques such as repoussé and chasing to create her patterned surface. While the technique of repoussé involves shaping metal by hammering from the reverse side to create the design in low relief, chasing involves hammering metal on the front side and sinking the pattern into the surface. The patterning process is largely intuitive for Grigoris, who allows the decorative elements to emerge with their own distinctive characteristics. “When making a piece, I slowly develop the designs and concepts in detail,” Grigoris says. “I don’t plan my patterns, except maybe a rough squiggle of how I want the pattern to move across the metal.” Using her own handmade steel repoussé punches, Grigoris decorates the metal surfaces with distinctive floral motifs and then cuts and forms the pieces to create an illusion of soft, ethereal objects made from the previously rigid, hard material. “I want the metal to look soft and delicate, and to show how it can be manipulated into feminine forms,” Grigoris says. From the vast array of different, patterned shapes that she amasses, Grigoris constructs each jewellery piece instinctively, starting with a very general idea of the direction she wants to take and allowing the final form to shift and transform as it develops. Layering different metals and patterns to build texture and depth, Grigoris uses her meticulous eye for detail to refine her designs, experimenting with the way different components move and interact with each other and allowing the pieces to take many different forms during the making process.
Zoe Grigoris, Sleep Walker - Wall Piece, 2021, oxidised copper, enamel paint , 150 x 120mm.
Zoe Grigoris, Heart Drops, 2021, oxidised 925 silver, 999 silver, 110 x 10mm.
“The colours in these illustrations felt like something that would be seen early in the day or at dusk when our memories and dreams melt together.”
The heavily patterned forms are also sometimes given further decorative embellishments such as oxidising and gold plating surface treatments, enamel paint and coloured gemstones. The pastel-coloured paints that Grigoris utilises in her work have a distinctly soft, dreamy aesthetic, with the artist often mixing her own colours in order to create the desired hue. When making a painted series, Grigoris selects a painting or book and builds the colour palette for the work around this visual reference. In Social Medea, the pale yellow, violet, peach and green shades are inspired by the drawings found in Songs of Innocence and of Experience (1789), the illustrated book of poetry by celebrated English poet, painter and printmaker William Blake (1757–1827). “Blake’s images are inspired by nature, dreamscapes and the mystical creatures in William Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Grigoris says. “The colours in these illustrations felt like something that would be seen early in the day or at dusk when our memories and dreams melt together.”
Formally trained in drama prior to her commencing her jewellery practice, Grigoris’ is particularly inspired by the flower-covered stage of German dancer and choreographer Pina Bausch’s (1940–2009) performance piece Nelken (1982) and the iconic silent film Annabelle Serpentine Dance (1895) performed by Annabelle Moore (1878–1961) and directed by Willaim Heise (1847–1910) and William Kennedy Dickson (1860–1935). In response to these inspirational performance works, Grigoris has developed Social Medea as an immersive exhibition experience that provides an interplay between object, sculpture, jewellery and the moving image that invites a contemplative sense of wonder. Displayed on handmade ikebana-style stands, the works are placed in the exhibition as immortal still-life pieces that captures a moment in time.
“I want the metal to look soft and delicate, and to show how it can be manipulated into feminine forms.”
Zoe Grigoris, Louloúdi - Wall Piece, 2021, copper, enamel paint,
300 x 220 x 20mm.
Zoe Grigoris, Springtime Necklace, 2021, 24ct gold plate, 925 silver, 999 silver, tiger-tail, 580mm length.
Social Medea is accompanied by a short film by South Australian Creative Producer and Art Director Stephanie Daughtry that was created to complement the themes and aesthetics of the exhibition. The film’s Impressionist style takes cues from the soft, romantic colour palette of Grigoris’ pieces and mirrors the floral motifs and attention to fine detail that are present in her work. Filmed in the Adelaide Hills during the final days of summer in 2020, the hand-held filming style plays with perspective and focus to evoke a dream-like landscape awash with hazy rose-tinted nostalgia. The film has been edited into a square as a reference to Grigoris’ sculptural works — as well as a node to social media tropes — and is designed to fit effortlessly into the exhibition as a moving still-life painting.
Dance and theatre continue to influence and inspire her work and the way in which they may be displayed. As a result of these influences, Grigoris has developed Social Medea as an immersive exhibition experience that provides an interplay between object, sculpture and jewellery. The exhibition is also accompanied by a short film by South Australian Creative Producer and Art Director Stephanie Daughtry that evokes a dream-like landscape awash with hazy rose-tinted nostalgia. Through the combination of these different elements, Grigoris creates an environment that invites a delightful sense of wonder and teeters on the blurred edges of memory.
Zoe Grigoris
Adelaide born and based, Zoe Grigoris graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Drama and Visual Art) from Flinders University in 2011 and a Bachelor of Visual Arts Specialisation (Jewellery and Metal) from the University of South Australia in 2014. She completed JamFactory’s Associate Training Program in the Metal Studio in 2016 and has since built a successful exhibition and commission-based jewellery practice, which is largely focused on high carat bespoke rings.
Zoe Grigoris acknowledges the support of the Government of South Australia through the Project Grant for Independent Artists and Groups.
Social Medea is showing in Gallery Two at JamFactory Adelaide until 26 September.