Gimmel
28 June – 28 July 2018
Bosse and Baum, London

Emerging from an exploration of the relationship between ritual, myth, ecological fragility, and the politics of the body, this exhibition took its name from a kind of wedding ring used in late medieval and early modern Britain. The gimmel ring, made from a single piece of metal, comprised two interlocking bands, which were then separated and worn by each partner prior to marriage. At marriage, the two rings were re-joined and worn by the woman, marking their union - and her new status as a married woman.

This partially autobiographical body of sculpture and installation takes the gimmel ring as a figurative tool for investigating the psychological, mythological, historical and political dimensions of bodily intimacy and kinship. Drawing on her experiences growing up in Aoteroa New Zealand, Austin’s work is a complex and critical interrogation of practices and visions of joining and severance; between people, cultures, human and non-human agencies.