Warwick Freeman

Warwick Freeman (b. 1953) is regarded as one of the world’s most influential contemporary jewellery artists. His works tell of his life, culture, and history, as well as the history of Aotearoa/New Zealand and the country’s unique materials—millimetre-thick mother-of-pearl from the giant clam, the iridescent inner membrane of the pāua (a rainbow abalone), and the pounamu (a type of greenstone). Freeman—the Pākehā, as the Māori call descendants with European roots—has long been a mediator between the cultures. In the 1980s he co-revolutionised the world of New Zealand jewellery, which led to the creation of a unique artistic language. Freeman discovers forms, symbols, and images that connect Māori, Polynesian, and European civilisations through emblematic meanings that transcend their cultures—Hook. Hand. Heart. Star.

Text in English and German.