‘Jewellery should: confer dignity, bestow beauty, arouse an erotic response, signal intent, protect the wearer, evoke anger, insult the intelligence, say something, lack ambition, offer certainty, fulfill desire, confront apathy, convey spirituality, make the wearer look foolish, reflect the spirit of the age, provide status, provoke annoyance, communicate willingness, emancipate the wearer, make a stand, show a zest for life, be indifferent to what others think, claim national significance, encourage daring, be geometric, be floppy…’

Warwick Freeman, 2003

Warwick Freeman was born in Nelson 1953. Largely self-taught, he took up jewellery-making in Perth, Australia, in 1972, following two years of travel. Returning to New Zealand in 1973, Warwick initially established a workshop in Nelson before moving to Auckland in 1975. After a brief stint as a manufacturing jeweller he first joined Lapis, a co-operative jewellery workshop, in 1977, and a year later became a partner in Fingers. Warwick regularly exhibits in New Zealand and Australia, as well as in Europe and the USA. His works are held in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney; Auckland Museum; the Dowse Art Museum, Lower Hutt; the Danner Stiftung, Munich; the Helen Drutt Collection, Philadelphia; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; and Te Papa, Museum of New Zealand, Wellington. His international standing was recognised recently by the Françoise van den Bosch Foundation, based at the Stedelijk Museum, who named him their 2002 Laureate.