Almost Touching, Jaime Jenkins

This exhibition features Jenkins’ recent and new works that embody the organic, intricate and architectural forms of the natural environment. Created from ceramics and teetering on the edges of functionality and fragility, each artwork and installation within this show offers a unique insight into Jenkins ambiguous and poetic visual language.

Objects that defy the brittleness of fired clay are frequent forms in Jenkins’ practice. Chains, bells, and lattice sit alongside dense structural pieces that can be used as stools, shelves and tables. This tension is at the heart of Almost Touching. It is a hesitant moment that characterises the precarious stability of ceramics and is amplified through Jenkins’ unconventional approach to the medium that favours form over function.  

A Tauranga Moana local, this exhibition is a celebration and a grounding in the coast, bush and hills Jenkins roamed growing up. This deep connection to the landscape and te taiao (natural world) is reflected in the slips, glazes and forms she intuitively shapes by hand. Each element is imbued with this visceral sense of care and reflection.

There is also a tactility in Jenkins’ works that suggests interaction, but this is not an invitation to handle the works. Her practice is an illustration of that beautiful moment in-between things where they are tentatively, nearly, almost touching.

This exhibition has been developed and presented in partnership with The Dowse Art Museum.

Karl Chitham