Jenny Takahashi Palmer

Jenny Takahashi Palmer is a craft artist and jewellery maker who creates ornamental, decorative and ceremonial objects. These objects often take customary Japanese forms such as kanzashi 簪 (hair ornaments) and kushi 櫛 (hair combs) and are crafted from a variety of metals, timbers, found and gifted materials. Takahashi Palmer was raised on Te Motu-arai-roa Waiheke Island, and graduated from Auckland University of Technology in 2016 with a Bachelor’s degree in sculpture.

Takahashi Palmer’s objects are intended to represent the different stages of women’s lives as well as gesture to their social status. They draw on the beauty of the natural environment, depicting motifs such as native shells, insects and wildlife from Aotearoa and Japan, alongside the specific context of the artist’s household, such as trees or birds in her surrounding environs. Ōmishima, a rural island where her family is from and where the artist is currently based, is one such source of inspiration — with the wild boars and herons that occupy the island present in previous hair pins she has made. Flora and fauna from her childhood home on Waiheke Island — such as matuku moana (white-faced heron), tūturiwhatu (dotterel) and oioi (jointed wire rush) also feature in her kanzashi. Takahashi Palmer emigrated to Japan in 2024 after spending most of her life living in Aotearoa. Of the places she draws from, she says, “Ōmishima Island is so beautiful, it literally looks like a wood block print. The challenge for me as an artist is how to replicate that beauty in a different format.”

The artist is heavily influenced by texture, working at a micro scale with her materials. “It takes a minimum of one year for me to finish an object”, she says. Both delicate and industrial, she began her craft practice in metalwork, experimenting with the form while studying at university. Now she often casts in silver or carves using native wood — such as burnt kauri, taraire and tōtara — to create her combs, and works to meld a mixture of materials from her different cultural contexts. The materials used in her artworks are found within her means, with the challenge being to reproduce the beauty of expensive, rare materials such as ivory or tortoiseshell from second-hand finds and resources gifted by her friends. She never formally trained in woodwork, but instead taught herself.

Takahashi Palmer’s main influence comes not from contemporary artists but from encounters with antique objects. Her British grandmother was an antiques dealer, so she has had “a collector’s mindset” ingrained within her since she was a child. It’s not just material riches that capture her attention, but a deeper interest in what is precious to people, whether this be oceanic pearls or a cheap tacky plastic comb kept dear by her obāchan.

While she has exhibited her works in Aotearoa galleries, including at Window Gallery, Enjoy Contemporary Art Space, May Fair Art Fair and Pah Homestead, such representation and public recognition of her practice as a craft maker has not been a priority for her thus far. She has been satisfied with “keeping it as is — there are not that many things in the world that you can keep as pure, and get endless joy from doing. I’ve really tried to protect my art-making from money, deadlines, and becoming a stress.”

In 2024, Takahashi Palmer is set to undertake her first artist residency, spending seven months in Kyoto at the Kagan Hotel. She’s excited by the volume of traditional craftwork present in museums there, the wider community of contemporary artists and customary makers who hold present knowledge and practices on how to make traditional hairpins and metal work for Buddhist and Shinto shrines.