Joe Sheehan (artist)

Joe Sheehan (born 1976 in Nelson, New Zealand) is a stone artist and jeweller who works primarily in pounamu (New Zealand greenstone or jade).[1]

Early life and education

Sheehan has been carving since his early teens. His father is an American jade carver who emigrated to Nelson in the 1970s.[2]^:87 Sheehan worked in his father's business, which supplied jade carvings to the tourism market in Rotorua.[3]

Sheehan studied contemporary jewellery at the Unitec Institute of Technology, where his tutors included Pauline Bern, graduating with a Diploma in Design (Jewellery) in 1996.[4][5]

Career

Sheehan works with pounamu, which is a material of great significance in Māori culture. Some of Sheehan's works explore "the value placed on pounamu as a commodity, rather than a material of cultural importance".[6] In others he uses pounamu in unexpected ways, for example carving ballpoint pens, a tape cassette, or a lightbulb.[3] Sheehan has also made works that question New Zealand's 'clean, green' image.[2]^:87 He says 'A lot of contemporary carving is retrospective looking. I wanted my stuff to relate to the current social environment but also reference the particular way our carving industry has developed'.[2]^:87

Limelight, his second exhibition, was a solo show at Objectspace in 2005, following a solo show at Avid Gallery in Wellington the previous year.[7] In 2006 Sheehan was one of the Arts Foundation of New Zealand's inaugural New Generation Awards recipients.[5] In 2008 he was selected to participate in the 28th São Paulo Art Biennial; in 2011 he travelled to Antarctica as an Antarctic Arts Fellow under the Artists in Antarctica Programme.[8][9] In 2012 he had his first survey exhibition, 'Joe Sheehan: Other Stories', at Pataka Art + Museum in Porirua, New Zealand.[10][11]

Sheehan has been commissioned by the Wellington Sculpture Trust to produce Walk the Line, a site-specific sculpture, for the refurbishment of the Wellington cenotaph. Sheehan is carving 300 nephrite discs that will travel across the space, marking the original bed of the Wai Piro stream.[12][13]

Collections

Sheehan's work is held in a number of public collections, including Christchurch Art Gallery, the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and the Chartwell Collection at the Auckland Art Gallery.[14][15][16]

Further reading

• Damian Skinner and Kevin Murray, Place and adornment : a history of contemporary jewellery in Australia and New Zealand, Honolulu : University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2014. ISBN 9781454702771
• Susan Cummins, Joe Sheehan: The Quick and the Dead, ArtJewelryForum, 12 August 2015
• Felicity Milburn, Hidden in Plain Sight, Bulletin, Christchurch Art Gallery, 1 March 2016

References

1. Lloyd Jenkins, Douglas; Hammond, Lucy (10 October 2014). "Crafts and applied arts - Individual crafts, 2000s". Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
2. Were, Virginia (Autumn 2007). "Leaving the lagoon". Art News New Zealand: 86–90.
3. Campbell, Fiona (2009). Real Art Roadshow (PDF). Waikanae: Real Art Charitable Trust. ISBN 9780473152949. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
4. Tyler, Linda (Summer 2014). "From small beginnings come beautiful things". Arts news. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
5. "Joe Sheehan: Stone artist and jeweller". The Arts Foundation of New Zealand. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
6. "Joe Sheehan, 'Reserve', 2011". Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
7. Clifford, Andrew (7 September 2005). "Pounamu prospects are seen in a different light". New Zealand Herald. APN New Zealand Ltd. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
8. Coney, Hamish (23 October 2008). "Slow Journey". Idealog.co.nz. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
9. "Alumni". Antarctica New Zealand. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
10. Amery, Mark (25 September 2012). "Joe Sheehan at Pataka Museum". Eyecontactsite.com. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
11. "Joe Sheehan: Other Stories". Pataka.org.nz. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
12. "Sculpture News" (PDF). Wellington Sculpture Trust. December 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
13. "New sculpture at the Cenotaph unveiled". Wellington City Council. 15 April 2015. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
14. "Sheehan, Joe". Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
15. "Jo Sheehan". Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
16. "Joe Sheehan: Mother". Christchurch Art Gallery. Retrieved 30 April 2016.