Gavin Hitchings’ studio (Photograph: Debra Cole)

Gavin Hitchings was born in Woolwich, England in 1937. In Kent he trained as an entomologist, before emigrating to Nelson in 1965 with his wife Jenny. In 1968 he apprenticed under jeweller Jens Hansen and joined his studio as a partner until 1975, when he became an independent silver and goldsmith. Hitchings was named New Zealand Jeweller of the Year in 1977 and in 1986 he and Jens Hansen established a metal and jewellery programme at the Nelson Polytechnic (which would become the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology). He left the Polytech in 1995 to concentrate entirely on his own work.

Hitchings brought to jewellery the mind of a scientist. As an entomologist he studied insects – their behaviour, the way they interact with the world and how we as humans coexist with them. As part of this he experimented, observed, researched and then repeated these processes all over again. He was a jeweller in much the same way. He meticulously planned his work, evolved forms within series, experimentations and that he continually revised and tested his ideas over time. His pieces were also informed and inspired by the natural world. Not insects, as one may expect, but geological features, coastal environments and time. But he also examined these forces through the lens of humanity - how do we translate our understanding of geology into built structures, how do we navigate oceans and how do we perceive time?

Underpinning all of Hitchings’ work is the grid. In a purely formal and minimalist way grids, with some diagonal variations, were fundamental framework from which Hitchings could endlessly extrapolate. They signal built environments and when paired with organic ovoid forms, as in his Vessel, Stones of Unknowing[1] and Bridging series, they create an essential juxtaposition. It is the contrast created by juxtaposing organic spheres and rigid forms that allows Hitchings work to go through a process Robert Smithson referred to as ‘de-architecturisation’.[2]  By entwining of built and natural structures Hitchings reveals the strained, but dependent, relationship between humanity and the natural world – everything we have comes from it, is inspired by it, and will eventually return to it, but we also often destroy it.

Erosion and entropy were key in Hitching’s approach to understanding the environment and were the lenses through which he created. Hitchings passed away in 2018 leaving a legacy of work that reveals to us nothing is absolute. What excited him was what we do not know, what is lost, and the power of time to transformation anything and everything.

Sarah McClintock
Suter Curator

[1] Hitchings took this title from the writing of Robert Smithson -  ‘A Sedimentation of the Mind: Earth Projects – Robert Smithson’ in Art Forum, September, 1968
[2] Gavin Hitchings archives, Nelson.