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Description
Resurface is an exhibition of jewelry objects that are intended to elicit sensations of admiration, contempt, and self-reflection by surrounding the wearer/viewer with flesh-like materials, sterile surfaces, and decorative elements. By capturing and blurred moments where the mechanical and biological touch, this exhibition looks to amend our preconceived notions of the supplemented body and positions the surface of the body as a precious material. The work in Resurface questions the reaction to the failed or supplemented body. If it were not one of automatic recoil, how would our perceptions of the body differ, and to what societal affect? The work explores this through a series of jewelry objects that combine bodily forms and surfaces with structures and shapes prevalent in jewelry and ornament. Oscillating between references of ornamentation and bodily organs, these works create moments of curiosity and unease. The work highlights the surface of the human body through mimicry of it. Inflated skin-like forms framed in metal imply sites of imagined interventions. Microbial cellulose (MiC), a material used in medicine for wound care is used to represent the human body. The process of growing, manipulating, and combining this material with fabricated metal parts has allowed me to create a dialog between the living and non-living; the human and machine. When worn, these organic and mechanical combinations conjure notions of unnecessary adornment, physical identity and self-ownership, through the failed, repaired, or supplemented body. Placing these works on the body as jewels suggests that there is value in the experience of the failed body. I aim to redefine the way we view the supplemented body. I imagine the wearer to experience levels of bodily awareness, appreciation, and estrangement as they look down on these necklaces and brooches marked with aging skin like qualities. The goal is to expose and desensitize the viewer, encouraging the acceptance and normalization of the supplemented body. Resurface was displayed in the University Gallery at San Diego State University from April 29th – May 10th, 2019. Images of this thesis project are on file at the School of Art and Design at San Diego State University.
