Artist's Statement
Made in pure silver and high carat gold, Jo McAllister's work demonstrates a simplicity of form but not content. Since 1999 she has used stones found in the landscape as hammers and anvils to create subtly undulating surfaces and edges. These percussive disruptions made with Stone Age tools impart a sense of unexpected fragility to bold forms on which intimately land-marked surfaces convey an archaeological sensibility, accentuate the whiteness of pure silver and reveal the rich colours of high carat gold. Burnished edges are glinting counterpoints to granite textures reminiscent of earthly and lunar landscapes.
Initially prompted by the deceptive qualities of desert light and the textures within those landscapes, McAllister's work continues to be concerned with light and space. Her studio practice develops congruously with core jewellery pieces, metaphysical series of jewellery and objects having a distinctive sensibility.