Felieke van der Leest | Once Upon A Time In My West | 5 - 29 April 2017 | online catalogue

FELIEKE VAN DER LEEST ONCE UPON A TIME IN MY WEST

FELIEKE VAN DER LEEST ONCE UPON A TIME IN MY WEST 5 - 29 April 2017 The Scottish Gallery is delighted to showcase the celebrated Dutch jeweller Felieke van der Leest. This exhibition celebrates the fantastical world of fairy tales and Felieke’s interpretation of stories from the Wild West.

Felieke van der Leest is a trained metalsmith, graduating from the jewellery department at the Rietveld Academie, The Netherlands in 1996. She has lived and worked in Ă˜ystese, Norway since 2008.

Growing up in close proximity to a zoo, her passion for animals probably started in her childhood, just like her love for crocheting in textiles.

Combining this with precious metals and plastic toy animals, she developed her own idiom in contemporary jewellery and art objects.

Her works are best described as portable miniature sculptures; rich in humorous language. Although Felieke's animals are mostly comical at first sight, the story they tell is never childish of frivolous. By combining contrasting materials like plastic and precious metals, Felieke gives her animals a different identity and context. Her work expresses the very special affection that she has for animals.

'When I am working with colour, I feel like a painter. When I am working with metal, I feel like a constructor. And when I am working with toys, I feel like a child.'

‘In this piece two playful little penguins have made themselves seem taller by standing on top of one another; in order to impersonate the notorious outlaw from the Wild West. The pistols hang out of their sleeves like children’s gloves, which otherwise would be easily lost. The buttons on the jacket look like a Sheriff’s brooch.

The Sheriff of course is usually chasing the criminal, so this is a bit controversial having the criminal wearing the emblem of a Sheriff!’

Billy the Kids (brooch), 2011 crocheted textiles, glass beads, yellow and white precious metals, mixed materials H11 x W8 x D3 cms £1,380

‘With this piece, I started with the title but it has nothing to do with the real Crazy Horse (the Native American leader of the Lakota tribe).

Children often play with a hobby horse, allowing them to imagine they are riding a real horse. I played with that idea but placed the horse’s head facing backwards. With the tale now in front, it looks like the horse is urinating.’

Crazy Horse (brooch), 2010 crocheted textiles, glass beads, topaz, yellow and white precious metals, mixed materials H15.5 x W9.5 x D4.5 cms £2,040

‘This brooch is inspired by a comic series called Lucky Luck. The series follows a cowboy Lucky Luck - who draws his gun faster than his shadow - and his loyal horse Jolly Joker. I wasn’t aware of this, but the maker of this comic is Belgian, not American at all.

The last frame of the comic is almost always a variation of Lucky Luck riding his horse towards the sunset and the words The End or Einde in Dutch. This type of frame was stuck in my memory.

It wasn’t until after I finished the first piece that I noticed the association between The End and the end part of the horse!’

The End II (brooch), 2012, embroidered textiles, glass beads, oxidised white precious metal, mixed materials H12 x W11 x D4 cms £1,500

‘These alpaca conjoined twin brothers are inspired by the Mexican banditos who were playing a roll in the Wild West and in the southern part of America. I don’t know why but when looking for the right colour of neckercheif, I ended up with mint green and pink - not very masculine colours! This gives them a softer edge.’

Gonzalez Brothers (brooch), 2011 crocheted and knitted textiles, yellow and oxidised white precious metals, cubic zirconia, mixed materials H11 x W7 x D2.5 cms A similar piece is in the collection of the Textiel Museum, Tilburg, the Netherlands £1,380

Felike van der Leest in her studio in Ă˜ystese, Norway

‘This two- piece necklace is inspired by a traditional wooden house from the 19th century and a Native American breastplate (traditional type of necklace). The ends of the pencils are worn to simulate trees that have been gnawed at by beavers and their family portrait nestles within. This family portrait is a modern one with only the one parent.

The house necklace is composed of graphite pencils. For me these yellow pencils are the most iconic graphite pencils, so I didn’t expect it to be so difficult to find them. When I finally did, I got a pleasant surprise; stamped in golden letters was the word Bonanza. This is also the name of one of the most popular American Western series of the 60s!

The beads I used in this necklace look like the graphite in the pencil and are made of hemalyke (a synthetic hematite). It is made by grinding up hematite, adding a binder (glue) and then press-molding it to create the forms.’

The Beaver Family From Pencil Creek (two-piece necklace), 2011 pencils, crocheted textiles, white precious metal, turquoise and mixed materials Pencil House Necklace: H16.5 x W16 x D0.7 cms Frame With Beavers Necklace: H9 x W9 x D3 cms A similar piece is in the collection of the CODA Museum, Apeldoorn, the Netherlands £2,040

‘During the gold rushes in the 19th century, large groups of men migrated to the areas where gold was found in Colorado and Alaska.

They caught the “gold fever” and became obsessed by it. They worked like dogs desperately hoping to become rich.

Following the dog theme, I realised that when dogs have been to the vets, they sometimes need to wear fluted plastic collars around their necks. I noticed the similarity between these collars and the shape of the plates that were used to strain the gold from the river water!’

Don & Bob Digger (ear clips), 2012 yellow precious metal and mixed materials H3 x W3 x D2 cms £1,740

Run Roadrunners Run! (object with bracelet), 2013 oxidised white precious metal, glass beads, cubic zirconia, mixed materials bracelet: H8 x W21.5 cms object: H8.5 x W29.5 cms ÂŁ2,160

Felieke van der Leest’s living room in Ă˜ystese, Norway

'When I am working with colour, I feel like a painter.

When I am working with metal, I feel like a constructor.

And when I am working with toys, I feel like a child.'

Squaw Kittens (rings), 2011 crocheted textiles, white precious metal, glass beads, stainless steel H12 x W7.5 x D0.5 cms ÂŁ520 each

‘With this piece I played around with the moon, wolf, rainbow and star, and with the notion of half and full.

I have reversed the stereotypical image in my head of a wolf standing on a rock howling at the full moon. Now the moon is balancing on the wolf’s nose and he is balancing on half a moon/sun in rainbow colours. The half wolf is supported by a cowboy spur, with a star. The Native Americans call the first full moon of the year the wolf moon.’

Half Moonwolf (object with brooch), 2012 crocheted textiles, yellow and white precious metals, glass beads, mixed materials brooch: H10.5 x W8 x D3.5 cms object: H3.5 x D11 cms £1,800

African Caucasian Indian (brooch/necklace) 2014, crocheted textiles, yellow and white precious metals, moonstone H8 x W8 x D4 cms ÂŁ2,040

African American Indian (brooch/necklace) 2013, crocheted textiles, yellow and white precious metals H12 x W7.5 x D4 cms ÂŁ2,040

Felike van der Leest in her studio in Ă˜ystese, Norway

FELIEKE VAN DER LEEST Felieke van der Leest was born in Emmen, The Netherlands in 1968.

In 2008, she relocated to Ă˜ystese, Norway, where she currently lives and works.

Having originally studied at the Technical School for Gold and Silversmthing in Schoonhoven, the Netherlands, Felieke then also graduated from the jewellery department at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam in 1996.

Felieke’s work is exhibited internationally and is held in a number of public collections.

Selected Awards: 2008 2008

Profielprijs 2008, Stichting Profiel, the Netherlands The Prize of the French Community Walonia-Brussels 2008, World Crafts Council, Belgium

Public Collections include: CODA Museum, Apeldoorn, the Netherlands Hiko Mizuno Collection, Tokyo, Japan Museum of Decorative Arts, Montreal, Canada Museum of Modern Art, Arnhem, the Netherlands National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh, UK Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, the Netherlands Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK

FELIEKE VAN DER LEEST ONCE UPON A TIME IN MY WEST

Published by The Scottish Gallery to coincide with the exhibition: FELIEKE VAN DER LEEST ONCE UPON A TIME IN MY WEST 5 - 29 April 2017 Photography by Eddo Hartmann All rights reserved. No part of this catalogue may be reproduced in any form by print, photocopy or by any other means, without the permission of the copyright holders and of the publishers.