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MELBOURNE
BRUNSWICK
BUNDOORA
FISHERMAN’S BEND
POINT COOK
HAMILTON
HO CHI MINH CITY
HANOI
Memories and homeland inspire award-winning jewellery
Brunswick resident and final-year Master of Fine Art student Nicole Polentas has
been recognised with a major prize, RMIT University’s $2,500 Gold and
Silversmithing Postgraduate and Alumni Award.
Ms Polentas’ award-winning work is inspired by scripts and ideas from her original
homeland – the town of Chania on the Greek island of Crete.
“I am fascinated by the history and heritage of my homeland and how people’s
memories of history are not necessarily how things happened, or how they have
been written down,” she said.
“Words are always layered with meaning and that is why I used manipulated script
in my pieces to reflect this aspect of memory.”
Ms Polentas also uses features traditionally associated with Greece in her work,
such as the colours blue and white and the third eye symbol.
“I use the third eye in my work as so many stories from Greece and my family are
about watching people and protecting people, and Greece is very much associated
with this symbol and the protection of the evil eye,” she said.
Ms Polentas plans to use her prize money to travel and hopes her experiences
overseas will inspire her future work.
“I want to visit my homeland, Chania and Crete, and see how being there affects
my work and how I feel about my heritage,” she said.
“I wasn’t expecting to win this award, so I was shocked and overwhelmed when I
did – but it was a good feeling!
“The support I’ve had from staff and other students while studying gold and
silversmithing at RMIT has been amazing and it really gives you the confidence to
take your work to the next level.”
Ms Polentas studied a Bachelor of Fine Art at RMIT, specialising in Gold and
Silversmithing, before embarking on her Masters.
Four of Ms Polentas’ award-winning pieces were recently on display at “it’s got
legs”, the RMIT School of Art Gold and Silversmithing Postgraduate and Alumni
Award Exhibition.
For interviews: Nicole Polentas, 0429 300 322.
For general media enquiries, RMIT University Media and Communications,
Deborah Sippitts, (03) 9925 5047 or 0400 844 075.
19 August, 2008
NEWS 
