An induction to jewellery making often commences with the crafting of a simple copper ring – a fundamental exercise in metalwork and studio orientation.

Over the years, Workshop6 has accumulated a repository of these practice rings, serving as a tangible record of the many hands that have honed their craft with the jewellery collective. Emblematic of learning jewellery and the fundamentals of the craft, copper rings form the basis of Workshop6’s Common Element.

Recently commissioned for Objectspace, Common Element includes more than 500 rings threaded across a display designed by Michael McCabe. Assembled en masse these small objects embody the collective learning Workshop6 has fostered over decades in the craft of jewellery.

Workshop6 is Aotearoa’s most enduring jewellery collective. Throughout their 30 years of making, the studio has been a vital hub for metalworking and jewellery craft. Many of Aotearoa’s leading contemporary jewellers have ties to Workshop6; training, teaching and fostering an extensive community connected through making. Common Element continues this work, stoking interactions and engagement that are crucial for sustaining studio jewellery practice in Aotearoa.