A wall work by Frances Stachl is the first in a series of two jewellery exhibitions in Objectspace’s foyer this summer season. 

Te reo Māori translations of ‘You and I are earth’, a phrase taken from a 17th-century earthenware plate found in a London sewer, are illustrated in delicate letters hanging from a 3.5-metre-long chain. Rendered by Stachl in sterling silver using the Matarongo atakau font designed by Johnson Witehira and Kris Sowersby, the texts explore the layered understanding of Māori relationships to whenua. The form of the work references quantitative surveying tools such as Gunter’s chain, an English measuring tool used to map and divide land. Stachl says:

"In te ao Māori we come from, and return to, whenua. The relationship is interdependent and continuous. The idea that whenua could be surveyed using a set of imported measurements is not compatible with this. This work explores differences in the attitudes and understood responsibility to whenua between both treaty partners – Māori and the Crown."

Stachl usually creates works with the body in mind. She considers a work not quite finished until it finds a wearer. Her occasional larger wall works, although technically still wearable, are completed instead by contact with the viewer.

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Frances Stachl (Ngāpuhi, Te Rarawa) is a contemporary jeweller based in Whanganui. Primarily working in silver and gold, Stachl has developed a visual vocabulary in her work that draws references from Māori iconography and her personal and political considerations. Her preference for precious metals relates to their predictable qualities, allowing her to explore ideas with consistency; however she also incorporates organic materials, such as kōwhai seeds, within different bodies of work. Stachl studied jewellery at Whitireia Polytech, graduating in 1999. She exhibits throughout Aotearoa New Zealand and makes from her studio and gallery in Whanganui, A Place for Hammers.