Artwork information

Eléna Gee is a leading contemporary jeweller who helped shape a distinctly local aesthetic in New Zealand body adornment using materials and techniques that reflect the region’s natural environment and cultural context in the Pacific. In 1988, she was one of only two women, alongside Jenny Pattrick, who featured in the landmark exhibition Bone Stone Shell: New Jewellery New Zealand, which toured Australia and Asia. Curator John Edgar noted that although the monetary value of bone, stone, and shell is low, the exhibition aimed to highlight their cultural and aesthetic significance.

Born in Auckland, Gee developed her craft skills early, learning how to work with shells from her grandmother and to do metalwork in her father's workshop. She often collected materials from the beach, finding that shells and pebbles held memories of earlier times as well as emitting a deep connection to nature. Gee described her process as making ‘memories wearable’, altering found materials only slightly – perhaps drilling a hole or adding a cord so the pieces retain their natural character. Her jewellery is known for its simplicity and elegance, celebrating the inherent beauty of materials like pāua shell and smooth stones, with a sense of freshness and informality.

A pāua shell with slivers of pink and green has been cut into a simple wing shape with five feathery tips. Pāua is a mollusc and important food source in Aotearoa, cherished for its dense and delicately flavoured flesh. The shells are also prized and have been commonly used to adorn Māori whakairo (carving). In the 20th century pāua was widely used for making costume jewellery, and became seen as touristic kitsch. In the late 20th and into the 21st century it has been reclaimed by fine art jewellers in pieces like this which acknowledge its inherent beauty as a material.