Sandra Bushby is the latest contemporary artist to return to her Hawke's Bay roots in an upcoming exhibition at the Hawke's Bay Museum and Art Gallery.

Born and raised in Havelock North, Bushby left the region to study Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury.Sandra Bushby is the latest contemporary artist to return to her Hawke's Bay roots in an upcoming exhibition at the Hawke's Bay Museum and Art Gallery.

Born and raised in Havelock North, Bushby left the region to study Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury.She returned to the Bay to teach art at Napier Girls High School, but hasn't exhibited in Napier since the Hawke's Bay Art Gallery Scholarship exhibition in 1985. Bushby is now based in Auckland where she is becoming well known for her intricately embroidered artworks.

In September 2008 as part of an ongoing effort to maintain a strong presence of contemporary art in the HBMAG exhibition programme, Sandra Bushby will present her first showing of a major new series Absent Jewels. These new works will be exhibited alongside two earlier bodies of work Set in Thread (2006) and Fell in Love with Stitches (2005).

Since 2003 Bushby has been exploring embroidery and its associations with value, history and adornment. Absent Jewels explores the currency of the handmade through painstakingly embroidering the interior spaces of jewellery boxes - spaces traditionally reserved for precious and rare gemstones. Earlier works looked at these gems more directly, reformatting them as small embroideries which blur the line between jewellery and sculpture.

Absent Jewels Sandra Bushby

Exhibition dates 27 September - 22 February 2009
Exhibition floor talk Saturday 27th September at 12 noon
Embroidering Jewels: Workshop with Sandra Bushby. A unique chance to work alongside artist Sandra Bushby to create your own embroidered jewel. Numbers for this unique event are limited and bookings essential. $25 per person including materials.

Sunday 28th September 2pm - 4pm.

Hawke's Bay Museum & Art Gallery

23/09/08