“Interdisciplinary: integrating knowledge and methods from different disciplines, using a real synthesis of approaches.” (Yaari, n.d.)
Sunday, 20 October 2019
Conclusion
Based on the definition given by the jewellers Den Besten and Metcalf, this report will be outlining contemporary jewelelry as any form of jewelelry which is not limited just to conventional material, techniques nor physical attributes of that of commercial nor conventional jewellery. Furthermore this report has deducted that there are various types and functions for contemporary jewelelry, but will however be more concentrated on the narrative types of jewellery as these are more relevant to this report.
This report has chosen to define narrative works as any body of work under the arts umbrella which informs of a story, engages or address any subject matter using a specific art discipline. In the case of this report those would be jewellery and poetry, which both rely on creating a narrative using visual or spoken imagery.
One of the main focal words to this report is the term of umakoti, which is a Nguni word with a deeper association to it than just bride. There are several concepts, rules and expectations which relate to this word and her role. Primarily that she will not simply be a bride to her husband, but a bride to the family in which she marries into. Based on all the relevant topics that fall under umakoti, this report would condense the meaning to a woman (ranging from the ages of 18 both below and above), who has entered a marriage both voluntarily or through force. Due to the customs associated with umakoti, there are many limitations which are found within this role, although these have been challenged over the years.
However, this report has noted that not all families regard the role of umakoti as being that of one of lesser neither value nor standard; she is at times revered overtime as she gains status in age, or through proving her worth within her marital family. Even when marriage is entered into through force, they are cases in which she ends to happy within the marriage, this reports does not aim to chastise the role as a whole, but to reflect on some of the negative customs which some women have faced due to the customs
Inspiration
The Suicide Series, has two major direction which I had tried to both address and explore, which were the perspectives of the of the loves ones and of that of the suicide victim. These I expressed through using mainly two suicide methods those being that of hanging and overdose. For this series, I had wanted to use the actual materials connected to the suicide as my design director for the narrative execution. This decision was primarily driven by the notion that I wanted the viewer to view the reality of the subject and not to simply hint at nature of this kind of death.
What inspired this specific series were some of the bridal kidnapping documentaries which I had watched, where families of some of the victims of became so overwhelmed what their lives and become and opted to end their lives. In one particular series, the mother of the kidnapped bride actually stated that her daughter had not committed suicide, but was in fact murdered by her kidnappers as they had stripped the life from her while still alive.
Design
Having had personally known someone who had opted to their peace in death, I understand the sensitivity of the subject and just how it can affect those left behind and I had decided to use that to draw from in order to explore the poetry and jewellery of that angle. I therefore decided to once again adopt a concept used by Byrne, where she used honey comb on various body parts so as to express an allergic reaction to bee. Similarly I also decided to use actual rope to create neckpieces, which will then express suicide by hanging.
When creating the jewellery and writing the poetry for this collection, I decided to use the visual aid of a collage. I had somehow tried to place myself in the bride’s shoes, so as to use her pain as a source of creation. The collage was meant to replicate a final written goodbye from the umakoti.
a. The rope version
a. The rope version
The Pill version
For the pill version I wanted to explore the perspective of the bride/umakoti. The reason why I chose to use pills is that they usually represent some sort of relief from pain and felt that it would be an interesting concept to play around with as she too is seeking relief.
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| Figure 1: Ndongeni, S (2019). Pill version, earrings and pendant. |
I had therefore decide to use actual pills which were then set inside these wire elements, which could also be an indicator of how she feels void of what she is meant to have and the only solution she is able to find inside her is ending her life. I tried to romanticize the idea of suicide with these pieces as I wanted to give the idea that she is drawn into this belief that the afterlife will give her peace; hence the silver.
Inspiration
The Living Grave Series is a commentary based on miscarriage narratives. As previously stated, 10 to 25 percent of documented pregnancies result in a miscarriages, and this number is even higher when it comes to younger girls, predominately in cases of child marriages.
Due to the sensitivity of the subject, I have decided to reply mainly on the Series title as a director for the viewer, similarly to the narrative design principles expressed by Metcalf and adopted by Byrne. I have listed below my design outputs.
a. Fold-formed version
b. Beaded version
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| Figure 1: Ndongeni, S (2019). The Living Grave Series. Beaded neckpiece. |
Due to the sensitivity of the subject, I have decided to reply mainly on the Series title as a director for the viewer, similarly to the narrative design principles expressed by Metcalf and adopted by Byrne. I have listed below my design outputs.
a. Fold-formed version
b. Beaded version
Beaded version
For the beaded version of The Living Grave Series, I had also decided to use the same concept of the v shape when structuring the piece, as seen in figure 1. Once again trying not to create a morbid manifestation of the narrative, I chose to place the emphasis of how this unborn seed (a bead) is attached to this piece anchoring its development and forming part of who she will become.
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| Figure 1: Ndongeni, S (2019). The living grave series, beaded neckpiece. |
For the third version of the series seen in figure 2, I wanted to play with the idea of that there are all these women who all have had a unborn soul attached to them and although they may come from different walks of life, their pain somehow makes them through their grief. I tried to express the idea of the many unborn children through the use of the multiple and the lives of the women is expressed through the weaving which goes in multiple directions yet meeting at certain points in the formation.
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| Figure 2: Ndongeni, S (2018). The Living grave series, Silver and red beaded neckpiece. |
Fold formed version
For the Silver part of the series, I have tried to play around with the idea that a woman is flowering during the course of her pregnancy and have expressed this through the use of fold formed leaves. I then decided to place the leaves in a bead shape as though to imitate the uterus shape of female anatomy as seen in an earlier post.
The I also decided have settings hang at the bottom of the piece so as to signify this unborn life which is eternally tied to that of it’s mother, forever forming part of her life. I tried not to I will be setting a pear-shaped Quart in the setting seen on the left in figure one and a piece of red shwe-shwe in the piece on the right. These are meant to signify the life lost, while the red beadwork to be attached to the jumprings instead of a chain will signify the umbilical cord, while also an idea adopted from Xhosa beadwork.
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| Figure 1: Ndongeni, S (2019). Miscarriage Series, fold-formed pendants. |
Conclusion
In my work, I wanted to explore how I could translate a poetic narrative based on the Xhosa traditions into a contemporary piece of jewelelry which would in turn capture the same message as the poem, vice versa. In order to achieve this I have explored various jewelelry tools and techniques which would help enable best translate with visual jewellery what spoken or written word have captured.
Abstract
The purpose of this research report is to examine the conversion relationship between narrative jewellery and poetry in order to create a cohesive message or body of work which challenge or address specific subject matters within the Xhosa marriage traditions and customs. I have therefore undertaken a brief observation of the Xhosa umakoti/bride/wife roles, the expectations and practices by people who are directly involved in the results of these practices.
This study is of significance as it will be exploring and creating a collection of contemporary interdisciplinary jewellery which will not be solely directed by the “happily ever after” theme nor the “the best day of your life”, as it will be looking into the bridal reality which has been and is still swept under the carpet. This report and the design part of the study will be directed and based on the realities of umakoti which have led many to fall into depression and have left many viewing marriage as a prison rather than a union. (Mathaba, 2005)
Although studies have been conducted on ukuthwala/ bridal abduction, child kidnapping and abuse incurred by wives within marriage, there is however still relevance for this report as it will be addressing these issues through the mediums of jewellery and poetry as a single voice. Furthermore this study will be narrowing its investigations and study to be limited to the Xhosa as it is one of the most dominate Nguni subgroups within the South African borders which are affected by these problems. (Goodacre, 2007; Alijazeera)
Chapter One of the Report will be proving brief definitions of all the relevant terms and concepts which will be the keywords that will inform the creation of the collection of jewellery. While Chapter two will be introducing some of the artists and designers who have already contributed to narratives within their respective fields. These will be a sort of literature anchor for my work, as I will be looking at how they have engaged with narratives in respect to their chosen mediums. Then ultimately Chapter Three, will be a visual and oral presentation of my own work and a documented version of how I have dealt with my narratives.
Introduction
As I will be using the Xhosa umakoti narrative for Chapter 3, it was important that I investigate Xhosa beadwork so as to go gain design background. I therefore visited the East London Museum and interviewed one of the anthropologists from the museum, who gave me a lot of historical facts concerning the Xhosa people especially their beadwork. This process allowed me better under some of the relevant terms and types of beading done within the Xhosa community, these will be addressed below.
As with any group of people, there are specific symbolisms held by each bead and inversely each beadwork, therefore the creators need to be aware of these when creating narrative work to produce a relevant piece (Cosser, 2018; Glenda, 2018) . Interestingly enough, even the various shapes and forms included in the overall design will influence the message the weaver may be trying to portray within the desired beadwork (Lidia D, 1998) .
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Figure1 Artist Unrecorded. Mid-20th century. Xhosa Collar. Glass seed beads. (ONLINE)
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The earliest documented Xhosa beadwork dates back to the 1820[1]s; in those days beads were a precious commodity and therefore were exclusive to the wealthy and were a sign of status, and it was also then included as part of a woman’s dowry.
Figure 10 is a picture of a traditional Xhosa collar which was crafted in the mid-20th century; it is currently part of the Wits Art Museum collection. Traditionally Xhosa beadwork was made from seeds of the coral tree, shell, bone or ivory, claws, and teeth.
One of the most predominant colours found in Xhosa beadwork is white, and most of the Xhosa beadwork designs use open as this allows for the beadwork to drape over the body to act as a covering (Anon., n.d.) .
Friday, 18 October 2019
Miscarriages
The technical definition for miscarriage is when an embryo or fetus perishes before is exceeds the 20th week pregnancy. According to research around 10 -25% of pregnancies result in a miscarriage. (PPFA, 2019; Staff, 2019). However, miscarriages like suicide have long been part of the "unspoken" issues which plague our communities, as though it were an illness which spread when it was spoken about.
Within society, even in the Xhosa communities, it was almost disgraceful for a woman to be unable to conceive and give birth to a healthy child. Due to lack of available information, women ended up being made to feel as though they were failures when found to be barren, as though she somehow failed at doing the one thing that her body was designed for. A real woman ought to be able to bring forth life, isn't she?
As seen in figure 1, the female anatomy unlike that of a man, is designed to conceive, carry and give birth to life (Brichford, 2016).
Within society, even in the Xhosa communities, it was almost disgraceful for a woman to be unable to conceive and give birth to a healthy child. Due to lack of available information, women ended up being made to feel as though they were failures when found to be barren, as though she somehow failed at doing the one thing that her body was designed for. A real woman ought to be able to bring forth life, isn't she?
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| Figure 1 Connie Brichford (2016) Female Anatomy. [ONLINE] |
As seen in figure 1, the female anatomy unlike that of a man, is designed to conceive, carry and give birth to life (Brichford, 2016).
Tuesday, 15 October 2019
Emily Christiana Bryne
I have chosen Emily as one of my designers of choice because she has an interesting approach to her subject matters, which she addresses through the use of narrative jewellery. The main contextual basis for her work is the notion of what may be considered as jewellery and what jewellery is concerning the body.
According to Metcalf, one of the major aspects to contemplate when creating narrative jewellery is the title of the Jewellery item. This is vital as it will help guide others towards their narrative, while also helping them when establishing an understanding of the said work. This is especially important when the artist has chosen to use symbolism which is not familiar or known by their audience.
This has been one of the constants when it has come to Bryne's work; which is one of the reasons why I have chosen her as an artistic example when trying to establish academic parallels. In Bryne's work, she aims to engage with her audience; this report will therefore be featuring some of her work and explore how she has interpreted narrative jewellery. The picture in figure 1, is an example of her work trying to explore the grass being greener on the other side.
Listed below are the headings which I will be discussing her work under.
According to Metcalf, one of the major aspects to contemplate when creating narrative jewellery is the title of the Jewellery item. This is vital as it will help guide others towards their narrative, while also helping them when establishing an understanding of the said work. This is especially important when the artist has chosen to use symbolism which is not familiar or known by their audience.
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| Figure 1: Bryne, E (2013:24) Green Grass Brooch |
This has been one of the constants when it has come to Bryne's work; which is one of the reasons why I have chosen her as an artistic example when trying to establish academic parallels. In Bryne's work, she aims to engage with her audience; this report will therefore be featuring some of her work and explore how she has interpreted narrative jewellery. The picture in figure 1, is an example of her work trying to explore the grass being greener on the other side.
b. Hives series
Barbara Stutman
Stutman tries to use her body of work as a tool which transports feminine concerns which like mine, are either swept under carpet and are not given a nondiscriminatory platform for conversation or consideration. Some of these concerns relating to the female gender that she deals with in her work are about incest, rape and even something as superficial as plastic surgery.
a. Impaired vision series
Being the candid female narrative jewellery advocate that she is, Stutman tries to liberate the female concept from traditional shackles and stereotypical metaphors which have been placed on females even by the media. In order to provide reference, this report will only include one of her works from the five part series.
Stutman, B.1999. Survival of the Footest 1. [ONLINE]
In the series “Impaired Visions”, she uses her craft to mock how the female is portrayed by media and shows how they try to create these unattainable fantasies which work on women’s insecurities in order to increase sales. She explains how these false ideologies are both damaging to a woman and limit her to conform (Stutman, 1997) .
Figure 2, is from the four part series entitled, “Negotiating Identity”. It is a three set made from fine silver, copper, nickel silver and polyurethane. In this series, she uses her work as a vehicle to narrate the negative ways in which mass media distorts women through ongoing processes. She once again uses her jewellery to show how women can be influenced to become whatever the media tries to paint them to become.
The piece set is entitled “How to Become a Woman, Parts 1-3”. She is in a way mocking how the identity of the woman has been formed both traditionally and by media. In order to guide her audience she has relied not just on the imagery, but the titles of both the series and the pieces as an aid.
b. Negotiating Identity Series
Figure 2, is from the four part series entitled, “Negotiating Identity”. It is a three set made from fine silver, copper, nickel silver and polyurethane. In this series, she uses her work as a vehicle to narrate the negative ways in which mass media distorts women through ongoing processes. She once again uses her jewellery to show how women can be influenced to become whatever the media tries to paint them to become.
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| Figure 2 Stutman, B. (1996) How to Become a Woman Parts 1-3 Brooches. [ONLINE] |
The piece set is entitled “How to Become a Woman, Parts 1-3”. She is in a way mocking how the identity of the woman has been formed both traditionally and by media. In order to guide her audience she has relied not just on the imagery, but the titles of both the series and the pieces as an aid.
Umakoti
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| Figure 1: Ndongeni, S. (2015) Umakoti clothing. |
Through my personal journey of becoming umakoti and through the research, I have found that there are rules to be followed and even a specific hierarchy even among the brides within her new family. These are determined by many factors one of these being how long one has been married; thus giving umakoti that has been married longer superiority over a recently married umakoti., this is regardless of the wife’s age.
Although this research report is based on the bridal narrative, it will, however, be mainly addressing the plight of the Xhosa umakoti. As addressed in a later section, Christianity is the main religious denomination which has had an influence on the Xhosa culture and this report will, therefore, be outlining the Christian perspective of marriage rather than the more westernized or universal marriage concepts. For discussion purposes this report will be adopting the Xhosa and Christian perspective of a marriage union, those being heterosexual marriages, a marriage between man and woman (Goodacre,2007; Church, 2002).
For the umakoti who practices and observes the Christianity,their bridal journey will involve the following:
a. Ukwenda/ Xhosa marriage customs
b. Christian marriage customs.
Although this research report is based on the bridal narrative, it will, however, be mainly addressing the plight of the Xhosa umakoti. As addressed in a later section, Christianity is the main religious denomination which has had an influence on the Xhosa culture and this report will, therefore, be outlining the Christian perspective of marriage rather than the more westernized or universal marriage concepts. For discussion purposes this report will be adopting the Xhosa and Christian perspective of a marriage union, those being heterosexual marriages, a marriage between man and woman (Goodacre,2007; Church, 2002).
For the umakoti who practices and observes the Christianity,their bridal journey will involve the following:
a. Ukwenda/ Xhosa marriage customs
b. Christian marriage customs.
This report will highlight the main concepts with regards to umakoti:
Xhosa Fertility Charms
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| Figure 1: Ndongeni, S (2019). Xhosa Fetility Charms. |
Figure 2: Ndongeni, S (2019). Xhosa Fertility Charms Display, East London Museum.
While at the museum, I had found that there was a lot of symbolic imagery used within the traditional Xhosa beadworks. I will however be only discussing those which are relevant this research report.  |
| Figure 3: Ndongeni, S. (2019). Xhosa love dolls , East London Museum. |
These dolls were believed to have the ability to attract a husband.These dolls would therefore fall under the classification of spiritual jewellery.
CecÃlia Erismann
CecÃlia has had the advantage of being born in a family which is half Swiss and half Brazilian; which she has influenced her art, poetry and the various interdisciplinary projects which she has been involved. She has both organized and taken part in various project with people from all walks of life and has been involved in projects all over the globe. One of the most differentiating things about the kind of work she does and is involved in is dialogue and encounter, these are the most important features which both describe and guide her work; these are equally compassed by the idea of wanting to house expression and trigger a form of communication through her works.
One of the reasons why I identify with this particular narrative artist is that she seems to be engrossed with the idea of wanting to expand the limits of poetry and wants to somehow break the boundaries which traditionally confine poetry onto paper. She has tried to achieve this through various collaborations with other poets, artists, dancers and musicians; she basically works with other departments within the arts. Her contribution to the arts is interesting, as she attempts to engage with not only her fellow peers but her audience.
The poem on the right and the painting on the left another example of a Multidisciplinary[1]collaboration CecÃlia Erismann did with Elizabeth Kristensen, which expresses the above concept.
Figure1 Elisabeth kristen. Ice sculpture [ONLINE]
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Her company is like a hug,
Sweet – calm – unique.
She sculpt life as if she was playing with snow…
The water crystalized in a human shape.
That beauty, exposed in a cold ice,
Sea through – em’oceans…
A beauty that the sun doesn’t melt,
But the heart overflows…
I go,
Her smile…
CecÃlia Erismann
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In this collaboration they have managed to capture the same concept or idea in different mediums, and like a mirror one reflects the other. You can almost feel and see the rapping effect the sculpture has depicted, although separately the poem and artwork make sense, they do however expand the individual messages and you understand how they are not separate entities but one unit expressing the same idea.
Bridal journey/ tale
Although this research report is based on the bridal narrative, it will, however, be mainly addressing the plight of the Xhosa umakoti. As addressed in a later section, Christianity is the main religious denomination which has had an influence on the Xhosa culture and this report will, therefore, be outlining the Christian perspective of marriage rather than the more westernized or universal marriage concepts. For discussion purposes this report will be adopting the Xhosa and Christian perspective of a marriage union, those being heterosexual marriages, a marriage between man and woman (Goodacre,2007; Church, 2002).
For the umakoti who practices and observes the Christianity,their bridal journey will involve the following:
a. Ukwenda/ Xhosa marriage customs
b. Christian marriage customs.
For the umakoti who practices and observes the Christianity,their bridal journey will involve the following:
a. Ukwenda/ Xhosa marriage customs
b. Christian marriage customs.
Table of Contents
Abstract
Introduction
Chapter 1
Contemporary Jewellery
Narrative
a. Narrative jewellery
b. Poetry
c Common elements between poetry and narrative jewellery.
Umakoti
Umakoti concepts explained
Conclusion
Chapter 2
Contemporary narrative jewellery
Barbara Stutman
Emily Christiana Bryne
b. Hives series
Inter-Art mediums
Cecilia Erismann
Xhosa beadwork as a narrative medium
a. Xhosa Fertility Charms
b. Xhosa Beadwork symbolisms
Conclusion
Chapter 3
Fairytale Series
The Lobola/bride price Series
Caged bird Series
Slavery series
The Living Grave Series
Black Tulip series
Suicide Series
Conclusion
Conclusion/Realisations
References
Monday, 14 October 2019
Contemporary jewellery
When trying to formulate the definition for what this report believes contemporary jewellery is, this paper has looked at the definition given by two influential contemporary jewellers these being:
Bruce Metcalf
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| Figure 1: Metcalf, B (1997). Brooch pins, maple, copper, brass, sterling silver, 23k gold leaf. [ONLINE] |
According to Metcalf, there is no fixed definition for jewellery in itself as it may gravitate between the extremes of both sculptural may yet be closely related to textile (Metcalf, 1998). In his paper he also highlights the main five functions of jewellery which he uses as a guide in order to discover his definition of what is contemporary jewellery. As seen in figure 1, an item if jewellery may have sculptural features and still be considered an item of jewellery.
b. Liesbeth den Besten
According to art historian Liesbeth den Besten, contemporary jewellery is an item of jewellery which is reflective of that specific period which it was created in, expanding to at least a 50 year period gap (Besten, 2001).
According to art historian Liesbeth den Besten, contemporary jewellery is an item of jewellery which is reflective of that specific period which it was created in, expanding to at least a 50 year period gap (Besten, 2001).
Introduction
This section will also be providing brief
definitions of all relevant keywords.
Keywords: Contemporary, Narrative, Narrative jewellery, Xhosa beadwork, poetry, lobola, umakoti, child marriage, marriage, bride, bridal kidnapping/ ukhutwala.Introduction
This section of the report will be providing
contemporary examples of arts have or are doing similar work within their own
fields of expertise.
This report has used Stutman as one of the contemporary examples as
her work exhibits narrative characteristic’s which are similar to what this
paper will be addressing. Therefore in Chapter Two, the report will provide a
brief introduction and background on Stuntman’s work; while also discussing her
One of reasons why I have chosen Emily Christina Byrne’s work as an
artistic example when trying to establish academic parallels. In Byrne’s work, she aims to engage with her
audience; this report will therefore be featuring some of her works and explore
how she has interpreted narrative jewellery. In the section below is the
structure of how this report will discuss her work.
One of the reasons why I identify with this particular narrative artist is that she seems to be engrossed with the idea of wanting to expand the limits of poetry and wants to somehow break the boundaries which traditionally confine poetry onto paper. She has tried to achieve this through various collaborations with other poets, artists, dancers and musicians; she basically works with other departments within the arts. Her contribution to the arts is interesting, as she attempts to engage with not only her fellow peers but her audience.
In this section the report I will also be addressing
how beadwork has been and can be used as a narrative form
Reflection
When I began my journey, it began with me wanting to create a collection of jewelelry which would goes beyond beauty, but would somehow be a body of work which was able to inform an audience of issues. While trying to figure out what it was that I wanted to narrate and which means I would use, I somehow found myself in self journey of becoming and growing.
I have now been able to push myself yet at times restrain myself when it comes to developing my concepts, because I sometimes had the tendency to go off into this pit of ideas and would forget to reflect as to recall that I am trying to relate a message to an audience that would not necessarily have the same understanding or view when it comes to some of the umakoti/ bridal aspects that I was trying to deal with.
Having a reference point to somehow parallel my work to was a vital step as it made me consider some of the design choices which I had made in terms of materials, images; forcing me to be able to substantiate these to myself as I wrote, designed and created.
There was so much more I still wanted to explore when it came to both the translation of jewellery into poetry, as well as in my narrative references. Although I do feel however, that this body of work may be used as a foundation for future work.
Bruce `Metcalf
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| Figure Pin &140, 1997, maple, copper, brass, sterling silver, 23k gold leaf. [ONLINE] |
According to Mecoth, there is no fixed definition for jewellery in itself as it may gravitate between the extremes of both sculptural may yet be closely related to textile (Metcalf, 1998). In his paper he also highlights the main five functions of jewellery which he uses as a guide in order to discover his definition of what is contemporary jewellery.
Fairytale Series
In my work, I wanted to explore how I could translate a poetic narrative based on the Xhosa traditions into a contemporary piece of jewelelry which would in turn capture the same message as the poem, vice versa. In order to achieve this I have explored various jewelelry tools and techniques which would help enable best translate with visual jewellery what spoken or written word have captured.
Fairy tale concepts
With my theme idea starting to mould itself into a concept, I have decided to play around with the output method of my narrative.
So I started off by looking at some Disney princess and prince cartoons. The reasoning behind this is that I want to breakdown the idea that, this is one of the first marriage, love and wedding idea that females come across. Basically the first seed which little girls are planted with. I was fairly selective with these and chose to use silhouettes as if to suggest that the idea is introduced to you, but you add the details to the image as you grow in life.
As seen in the picture above, I went to the cut out these pictures and then placed them onto domed brass plates. I then went on to pierce these out< as seen in the picture below.
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| Ndongeni, S (2016). Fairy tale |
From here, I will see what more I can do to grow the idea.
- Clay play experiment
Saturday, 12 October 2019
Xhosa beadwork from East London Museum
During my time at home in East London, I had visited the East London museum to get some information about the Xhosa people. I had an interesting conversation with one of the anthropologists from the museum, who gave me a lot of historical facts concerning the Xhosa people especially their beadwork.
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| Ndongeni, S. (2019). Xhosa beadwork Exhibition. |
As I will be using Xhosa bridal narrative as one of the bases for my chapter 3, it is important to understand some of the relevant Xhosa beadworks in terms of how they have used it in order to express their various narratives.
I will be discussing these under the headings listed below.
b. How do they deal with them?
ii. Which Techniques have they used?
c. How is their work similar to mine?
Emily Christiana Bryne
I have chosen Emily as one of my designers of choice because she has an interesting approach to her subject matters, which she addresses through the use of narrative jewellery. The main contextual basis for her work is the notion of what may be considered as jewellery and what jewellery is concerning the body.
Listed below are the guiding questions which I will be discussing her work under.
Listed below are the guiding questions which I will be discussing her work under.
- How is her work similar to mine?
Conclusion
Chapter Two of the report was a collection of relevant artist which could influence and inform my Chapter 3 report. One of these artists and jewellery designers was Stutman. Her background in fine art has greatly influenced her interpretation of what contemporary narrative jewellery is, as she creates jewellery that has sculptural forms to them, yet using her jewellery skills in order to provoke her audience. What I most associated with in her work was her ability to use imagery to create jewellery which addressed female issues, while at the same time working with relevance techniques, materials and colour choice.
Byrne, like Stutman also manages to draw out her artistic background and portrays it in her work through the use of found materials, concepts and challenging the notion of how jewellery can be worn.
My other example is also an artist; however Erismann is a poet who like Byrne uses her craft to create both dialogue and engagement with their audience of choice. I can relate with these three artistic souls as narrative and pushing conventional methods in order to express ones self and expand as a creative is an important part to their work.
This chapter also included a section where traditional Xhosa beadwork was discussed, this was to help inform ,y own creation as it displayed some f the imagery which was relevant for umakoti.
Multidisciplinary footnotes
[1] Multidisciplinary: people from different disciplines working together, each drawing on their disciplinary knowledge. (Yaari, n.d.)
Barbara Stutman
Stutman is a contemporary female artist and jewellery designer who uses her work to comment on female issues mainly using symbolism[1] and irony within her jewellery work; which are an extension of her sculptures and paintings.
This report has used Stutman as one of the contemporary examples as her work exhibits narrative characteristic’s which are similar to what this paper will be addressing. Therefore in Chapter Two, the report will provide a brief introduction and background on Stuntman’s work; while also discussing her work in the sequence below.
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