Jessica Kitto
Second Year BVA Jewellery, Dunedin School of art.
‘Bones’
This piece consists of French knitted tubes, embedded with hand carved bones. The bones were originally made of stone and carved with a diamond headed drill. They were made to appear delicate and thus representative of the body’s fragility, with the knitted tubes encasing the bones evoking, in contrast, a sense of physical comfort and warmth. Through the use of wool the piece is designed to ‘snuggle’. The knitted tubes also act as a form of protection for the bones, alluding to the anatomical formation of the human body. The selection of colours reflects this idea of anatomy, the deep red is symbolic of the inner workings of the body; both the red and white representing the protective and functional quality of human flesh and blood. ‘Bones’ is a particularly interactive piece due to the fact it can be interpreted as you will and in that it is a three dimensional object that, when worn, acts as an experience evoking a particularly physical response due to its emphasis on the corporeal.
“All these things you’ve given me”
“All these things you’ve given me” consists of every piece of jewellery the artist has ever been given by significant loved ones. Every piece holds a sentimental value to the artist and is specific to a memory or an emotional attachment she has to the particular person from whom she received it. The piece was constructed through linking one piece to another. Each individual piece holds up another, so if one falls down, it won’t be alone. The work can also be likened to a spider web, the web like formation associated similarly, to how we each carry distinctive memories or attachments, which define who we are. The subjective nature of the piece means that it is both unfinished and cannot be worn by other people, due to the emotional attachment and significance the artist has to each individual piece. The more the piece grows the more emotionally heavy and unwearable it becomes to anyone, but the artist.
N.B.
1: Bones
2: All these things you've given me
