Eléna Gee is a New Zealand jeweller known for her combination of metal work with organic materials, specifically pāua shell. She was a prominent figure in the Bone, Stone, Shell movement in 1980s New Zealand. She has had a long career with her work touring around Asia and Europe.
Early life
Born in Auckland in 1949, Elena Gee gained her first skills in handcrafts from her family. Her grandmother taught her to make shell boxes when she was eight and she taught herself metalwork in her fathers workshop that he used as an aircraft engineer.[1][2] Gaining her first skills in craftmanship from her family and with limited opportunities to receive professional training in New Zealand Gee describes herself as being 'largely self-taught.'[3]
Career
After graduating from St Mary's College in 1969 Gee spent a year as a trainee commercial jeweller. The following year she left for Australia where she held her first exhibition in 1972 at Gallery 16, Sydney. While in Australia she taught jewellery at the Waverly Woollahra Arts School and was a resident craftswoman at the Sturt Workshops in New South Wales. Her work was selected for two Australian exhibitions which toured Europe and Asia.[4]
In 1981 she returned to New Zealand. Finding limited opportunities for craft jewellery compared to Australia, Gee became a founding member of Details a New Zealand craft jewellers group. in 1985 she joined Fingers, a jewellery co-operative in Auckland. This gallery is where Gee would showcase most of her work in the following decades.[3]
In 1988 her work was included in the 'Bone Stone Shell: New Jewellery New Zealand' exhibition which toured for five years across New Zealand, Australia and Asia.[5]
