Flower Star
Warwick Freeman (New Zealander, b.1953), Artist 1992 © All rights reserved See full details
Object Detail
Description
The star motif emerged in Freeman's practice in the late 1980s, and first appeared in the work Star Heart (1989), where it was attached to a scoria heart - another of Freeman's signature motifs of the period.
Since this time, Freeman has continued to develop a project called 'I collect stars' where he finds ready-made star shapes in the natural and manmade environment, and which he sometimes fabricates into jewellery. He says:
“[Flower star] came out of the positive negative pattern game I was riffing on at the time around 4 pointed stars, so every star begat another by taking the negative space created by forming repeat patterns. The Flower Star comes out of the negative space created by Pearl Pillow, an earlier plump, pillow-like shaped brooch made from pearl shell that can be read as a four pointed star with an elongated axis- much like the Ngataringa Star shape stretched out lengthwise and plumped up.”
"Mary [Barr] is wearing it in the Owner’s Manual portrait."
Since this time, Freeman has continued to develop a project called 'I collect stars' where he finds ready-made star shapes in the natural and manmade environment, and which he sometimes fabricates into jewellery. He says:
“[Flower star] came out of the positive negative pattern game I was riffing on at the time around 4 pointed stars, so every star begat another by taking the negative space created by forming repeat patterns. The Flower Star comes out of the negative space created by Pearl Pillow, an earlier plump, pillow-like shaped brooch made from pearl shell that can be read as a four pointed star with an elongated axis- much like the Ngataringa Star shape stretched out lengthwise and plumped up.”
"Mary [Barr] is wearing it in the Owner’s Manual portrait."
Title
Flower Star
Production date
1992
Media
baler shell, jasper, gold, oxidised silver, stainless steel
Measurements
78 x 113 x 19mm (h x w x d)
Credit line
Collection of The Dowse Art Museum, gifted by Jim Barr & Mary Barr 2015
Accession number
2015.1.2