janine combes ― fragments

Janine Combes, My Feet in this Place Necklace, 2022, fine silver, sterling silver

Janine’s handcrafted earrings, necklaces and brooches are works of art, worthy of being passed down through the generations. They also push the boundaries. And, her new collection, Fragments, now on window display at Handmark, is no exception. A proud fifth-generation Tasmanian, Janine says this work is about connection to place and belonging: “When I close my eyes I see fragments of landscape, half remembered and laden with longing. Can I remember places I have never seen? Is this belonging?”

Always striving for new expressions of creativity, Janine inscribes her sculptural silver pieces with fragments of text. A pair of earrings highlighted with copper, titled Remember this Place, feature delicate words urging the wearer to “remember the sounds, remember the air, remember the light, remember us.” A hint of contour lines locates them in an “imagined landscape.”

The striking neckpiece, My Feet are in this Place, ruminates about historical ties to the land and our duty to step lightly. A wrapped curl of text implores: “My feet are in this place, not owning but pressing lightly, giving and taking as the ground shifts around me.”

Janine Combes mini-exhibition, Fragments, is on window display at Handmark until the end of August.