I would say that the paragraph, in which most captured the
idea behind my work would be section which deals with decoration being more
than a mindless application. The reason
being that due to the narrative nature of my work, signs and symbols used are
an essential part to design. As the usage of a specific image would either
enhance the message I hope to express with a piece of jewellery or it will make
the piece unsuccessful. An example of this would be the rose and chain elements
which I had used in a piece which corresponded with the poem entitled “A rose
by any other name is a slave”. Hoping to depict the concept of the poem which
was a play on the words of William Shakespeare in the story of Romeo and Juliet
where he expressed the idea that the name given to a thing or person, is not
what makes the person who or in this case what they are. And I tried to express
the idea that calling a woman ‘umakoti’ and yet treating her no lesser than a
slave, in essence reveals that you do not regard them as a wife, but rather a
slave, with a title. Therefore symbolism had to play a crucial role in both the
written narrative and the actual native piece of jewellery.
