GALLERY LOUPE TO FEATURE WORK OF AUSTRALIAN JEWELRY ARTIST NICOLE POLENTAS
MONTCLAIR, NJ - Nicole Polentas currently resides in Australia, but her connections to her family’s origins in Crete are an important influence on her jewelry. An accomplished gold and silversmith, she draws on her Greek heritage for inspiration and for the unique manner in which she exhibits her current body of work in a setting meant to depict the psychomanteum - the naturally occurring rockpools of myth where ancient Greeks would go to consult the oracles.
Polentas has created her personal psychomanteum made of plinths to display her jewelry. The installation includes water which re-creates the aquatic area where one could commune with the gods. The jewelry pieces themselves are fascinating and intricate constructions of metal wire and steel sheets, sterling silver, plastic and paint, ornamented with personal photographs and bits of traditional music from Crete known as riztitka. For the artist, the song fragments are a bridge to her sense of belonging to a place she is rooted in but no longer lives. Her past and present become connected in her very personal jewelry.
Gallery Loupe will bring Polentas’ work to the United States for her first solo exhibition in this country from November 10 - December 1, 2012. The opening night reception with the artist will be held on November 10 at 7-9 pm.
