"Emergence"
Gallery 1 Gallery 2 Gallery 3 Gallery 4
'Emergence.' Gallery view. 2009.
Artist Statement:
Jewelry is viewed as an intimate object. It is inextricably linked to the body, and its context is always the human form. Typically modest in size and extravagant in cost, jewelry assumes that an object worn on the canvas of the body simply adheres to you physically. I argue that not only do you adorn your body with jewelry, but jewelry also serves as a physical embodiment of a memory, time, experience, or feeling that is recalled when wearing it. By increasing the scale, obscuring the method of attachment to the body, and using transient materials not typically considered valuable, I create jewelry that publicly challenges the mainstream views of wearability and preciousness.
I am captivated by the idea of "shell as home" and how something hard can serve to protect and hide a softer, more vulnerable interior. My work relates the idea of a "shell" to the human condition. The contrast of hard and soft, permanent and transient, and emergence and containment relate to the inner struggle many people experience when faced with a difficult or complex situation. We build invisible barriers to hide and protect ourselves when faced with adversity, only to emerge and reveal our vulnerability when we feel safe again. By creating objects to be worn on the human body, I challenge the viewer to consider the invisible barriers they have put up to protect themselves from the world.
I am captivated by the idea of "shell as home" and how something hard can serve to protect and hide a softer, more vulnerable interior. My work relates the idea of a "shell" to the human condition. The contrast of hard and soft, permanent and transient, and emergence and containment relate to the inner struggle many people experience when faced with a difficult or complex situation. We build invisible barriers to hide and protect ourselves when faced with adversity, only to emerge and reveal our vulnerability when we feel safe again. By creating objects to be worn on the human body, I challenge the viewer to consider the invisible barriers they have put up to protect themselves from the world.