The caged bird series

1. The angle I have chosen to tackle my report from is through using two mediums in order to express one idea, these mediums being poetry and jewellery.  The Jewellery piece in figure 1 was one of the developments of this series, where I was still discovering how to express the idea of being caged verses negative space.

Figure 1: Ndongeni, S (2019). Caged bird bugle and tube beaded neckpiece

Since this was one of the initial concepts that I had worked with, I have listed the three major topics I have chosen to discuss this particular series under.
1.The Poem
a. Written
b. Spoken word

2.The Explorations
The list below are the initial ideas fro my cage bird deisgn, I have palced them in their order of development
a. Cage bird concept 1
b.Cage bird concept 2
c. Cage bird concept 3
d.Cage bird concept 4

3. The Jewellery

Experiment One

 I therefore played around with the idea of forming an image with beads using the brick stitch and then went on to try to make the same depiction using several safety pins instead of one.

I still have a whole lot more explorations to do before I can truly say "this is it.

Experiment Two

Ndongeni, S. (2018) Red seed beaded safety pin neckpiece

In wanting to modernize or to reinterpret the usage of safety pins in order to create a narrative, I chose to experiment with the safety pins on a much larger scale to grow from the beaded Xhosa heart keepers which I had done in the pictures above. I felt that I had to use the idea of safety pins in my work due to the significance it hold for the new makoti and the wife throughout her life as umakoti in the Xhosa culture.

I still have to however develop this idea further, which I believe I will be able to do once I have written a poem or have a concept which to which I can draw inspiration from.  I therefore decided that instead o I would play around with the layout of the safety pins in the meantime. This would later help me out with the design process as I would have an idea as to how to what scales to use, how to join the pins and how much room would I have to depict my concepts or deigns.                                   

Design and Explorations

a. Shwe-Shwe

1. Shwe-shwe and beads

2. Beads

b. The Safety pin experiment

Caged bird formation

Emily Christiana Bryne

In her work, Bryne's main aim is to use her narrative jewellery as a means to engage with the wearer and her audience.

Engagement ring, understanding connection. (2009)

The jewellery item designed by Bryne is one of her earlier experiments where she was trying to explore the concept of connection and ways in which she could depict it using jewellery. I have chosen the above picture as it embodies the concept of expressing a narrative using contemporary jewellery. As it focuses more on the narrative it is meant to depict to an audience.

What I have found to be interesting about this piece is how it allows for an actual physical connection to another person. She went even further with her exploration by including an actual microphone as part of the ring design. This would then enable a person's heartbeat to be heard when placed on their heart, which will be then transmitted through the heartbeat she has created.

I have found the design to have taken many elements and thoughts into consideration, not simply relying on the mind of the viewer to dissect the designer's meaning.

1. Which Issues does she address in her work?
2. How does she deal with them?

                                 i.            Which materials has she used and why?

                               ii.            Which Techniques has she used?

                              iii.            What kind of Imagery and symbolism has she used?

• How is her work similar to mine?

Narrative Jewellery

One of the most prominent jewellers when it comes to contemporary narrative jewellery is Professor Jack Cunningham. In addition to being a contemporary studio jeweller, he is a curator and an academic, who has made a huge contribution to the field. The picture below is part of a series by Cunningham entitled: “The Great Barrier” (Commentaire, 2013). 

Figure 1 –Withycombe, D. (2010)The Great Barrier Brooch. [ONLINE}[1]

In order to depict his personal narrative, Cunningham, has chosen to use found objects. This work has been used to illustrate what narrative jewellery is, as is has been manufactured using found objects and has relied on its title to help indicate its narrative to its viewer.

According to Cunningham narrative jewellery may be described as:

 “…small objects that have the potential to speak of large issues make bold statements and question accepted values.”

When observing his piece alongside his definition, a connection may be established. Hence this report has accepted this definition as it will be using jewellery a means to address bridal umakoti issues which are prevalent within the Xhosa lives of many young girls and women.

Within the category of narrative jewellery, this report will be looking at the following types of narrative works:

                                   a.            Narrative jewellery
                         b.       Xhosa Beadwork as a narrative   

           

                                            

Caged bird moments

The Caged bird Poem

For this poem I had decided to start it off as a reflective moment, hence the question 'how am I to fly on broken wings? ' This was meant to imply moment of 'what now?'
The idea behind being broken, it is meant to express how she may feel that her worth has somehow depreciated, due to how society views broken things as having no value or as being of a lesser value. The repetition of those words was also meant as a way of emphasising that she may no longer feel as those she can function to het fullest or original capacity, hence being unable to fly.
The next aspect revealed is the fact that the act of breaking her was deliberate. This is sometimes the case when it comes to forced marriages or marriages which as a product of ukutwala, they may try by either emotional or physical means to cause the girl/woman to feel as though her worth has already depreciated, so that she won't try to leave. This is done through rape, physically beating the women, emotionally threatening her of the fact that if she left she will be viewed as an outcast.

After hearing these stories, I had decided to write the poem from the perspective og a young girl, who feel broken both in terms of worth and wothin her soul, therefore no longer being able to view both her life and life as before. She is hence caged by the husband, her own brokenness and by the community. Hence the poem speaks not just of a cage, but her broken wing. 

Happily ever after

Cinderella 

When I embarked on the journey of creating a bridal themed collection, I was soon faced with the challenge, would I as a jeweller follow the status quo by creating jewellery which would paint a narrative identical to the one portrayed by media? Or would I create a collection of jewellery based on the narrative of millions of women and young girls who never find this Prince Charming?

The above picture is an example of what media portrays, as appealing as it may be create the Cinderella tale, I felt that there were some real stories which were being swept under the red carpet she walks on. 

Therefore with my work, I wanted to try to narrate the bridal/ umakoti narrative of those who never got to live that fairytale ending. I feel that as much as they are represented in statistics and numbers, that those were and are lives, which have stories and perspectives which need to be told. Their lives are not just more stories, but their reality.

I have therefore tried to use jewellery alongside poetry in order to capture these idea. Within a story, a movie to be specific its not just the words which express the story, but all the small pieces which inform one story, such as the lighting, the music, the props and clothing. In a similar way, the jewellery which I will be making will also rely on the colour, the textures, the words and the symbols in order to effectively portray the narratives.

Picture URL:https://sites.google.com/site/07cinderella23b/my-happily-ever-after

Quick thoughts

After the previous posts based on my artworks I began to do a similar write up based on my B. Tech narrative works. As I began to reflect on the symbols, metaphors and the words I had used; I realised that with some of the pieces and poems, I completely pushed the boundaries, or at least mine.

The above picture is an example of what I mean by pushing the boundaries. The picture was one of the artworks, if I can call it that, that I had made a few years ago. When I had initially chose it  from the stuff in the box, I felt that it would be a perfect reference point for my suicide pieces. However, after doing the suicide version of it, I started to find even the pieces to be more than going beyond the box.

I suddenly feel that my topic in itself is pushing in terms of a bridal narrative, and to add suicide in the mix, it sounds a bit morbid. I wanted realistic, to show the millions of narratives swept under the carpet, i finally realise why they are swept under the carpet. Nobody wants to associate marriage, bridal, umakoti etc with sadness and anything negative; hence the fairytales. 

Painted thoughts 3

The third remake was the above painting, which had no profound meaning. It was basically depicting how from when a child is conceived they will have you dancing to their own music.

Painted thoughts 2

The above painting is one of the remakes I found. In this painting I was trying to narrate the idea of temptation vs Jesus praying at the garden of Gethesemane. I had made the tree take thr form of a woman as she was the one who was deceived by the snake, who then went on to give the fruit to Adam and hence the fall of man. The other significance of the woman is the fact that God had declared that it would be the seed of woman that would crush the head of the snake. The third significance of the woman is the idea that God calls the church His bride, hence having a woman in the form of a tree would be of great significance especially at that specific scene. 

The significance of the snake was the fact that the devil had entered the snake when he tempted the woman, which then lead to the snake being cursed. The other reason is that, many people associate the snake with evil and the devil for this reason. Therefore having the snake wrapped around the tree/woman, would be symbolic of how he had deceived the woman, and how he continues to deceive the woman Christ views as His bride.

According to the first books in the New Testament, it is recorded that before Jesus was arrested, He prayed for Himself, the disciples and future believers. This was an intense time of prayer as He had known all that He was about to suffer, we have no exact knowledge as to what was happening during this time in terms of the spiritual battle that was being waged however it was so intense that Jesus even if asked "Father, if it is Your will, remove this cup from me..." The cup being symbolic of what He was about to suffer in order to save mankind. 

These are the reasons why I had chosen to work with these specific symbols in the painting 

The Jewellery

Figure 1: Ndongeni, S (2019). Caged Bird Ring Top View

The above picture is a beaded version for the caged bird series which I made during the June holidays.

Figure 2: Ndongeni, S (2018). Caged bird Retro Earrings.

When it came to expressing the caged bird concept through narrative jewellery; I had decided to mostly work with bugle beads, as they hint the idea of prison bars. Hence giving off the idea that the bird has in itself become its own prison. With most of the pieces in this series have been designed in a way that highlights the negative spaces, as seen in the above picture with the earrings. This was meant to imply that although one may be see life and exist within it, they can still be restricted from being part of it. These negative spaces also help create the idea of the emptiness in whom she has become.

Figure 3: Ndongeni, S (2019). Caged bird neckpiece. 



The tulip

After completing the Platafrica project, I had decided to explore and expand on the tulip concept. I therefore made replica domes from copper, brass and silver;so as to see what else could come of the concept when give the chance to grow.

The pictures will follow at a later post. 

Introduction

This section of the report will be mainly dealing with my personal exploration and manufacturing of my work.

"I walk on my belly, trying to understand my life; I crawl on my belly trying to understand life. I shed, this skin, trying to meet my own skin... who am I, but a girl; a girl trying to find the women in me"

The introductory poem is one I had written several years and had included it as part of my then B.Tech proposal. I have however found that my current report exploration may be somewhat associated with this poem; I have decided to include a short video that further expresses this. 

Due to the narrative nature of my work; the signs and symbols I have used have been an important part to my design process.  The reason being that 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. 

I will therefore be discussing and justifying the design choices made in this section of the report, in terms of the choice in techniques, colours, symbols and materials. 

Admin

With the Platafrica competition out of the way, now I have to do a lot of admin. I have been doing a lot of reflecting as of late and what I want it all to mean. I think that if I just start off by moving all the little pieces around me, I will see what fits where and it will all make sense. Hence I want to refine what I already have rather than to build up from scratch, as there is unseen beauty in what lays in scattered.

Ikhomo-ilobola

One good thing about the day was my second attempt at the rhino cow.I still need to make a few adjustments before I can getting to cast, but this is a huge improvement from the one that I had made last year. The first picture is the cow's front view, am not sure if I am too happy about it and I might need to tweak it abit, reason being that when worn it will be the first thing a person sees and I need for it to be visibly accurate as I can get.

Cow front view 

The second picture is the cow and the frame, judging from the printing, I must have  made some mistakes because the frame was meant to be connected to the cow, so I will need to work on that and consider how I can make the proportions work for the cow.

Cow and frame

I am happy with my side view, there isn't much that I would like to fix with it.

Cow side view 

Close up view

‘Til death do us part (part 3)

The following growth point of the suicide concept was having all these little beaded headless female figures hanging on the noose. I however, found this concept and layout to be a little too troubling so thought that I should keep them on ice, until I could find a less disturbing design composition for the beaded women.

‘Til death do us part…

In my research, I have come across one sad truth that throughout history, many women have found an escape from this life in death. In some cases they survived the suicide attempt, while in other cases they found peace; if peace is what awaited their souls. I listened to the voice of desperation in the voices of those that survived and watched the faces of mother’s who remained mothers, yet no longer had a daughter. It is reality, it is part of human history, and sadly it is part of the bridal narrative history; one I wanted to address in my work somehow. Without having written a poem, I set out to start off the design and conceptualization process and these are some of the pictures of the stuff I started creating from the suicide angle of the bridal narrative. I had started off by purchasing a rope which resembled the rope which was used as a noose in many olden day movies; I wanted to capture the familiarity of the noose image we were mostly exposed to. So I had asked Nick show me how to tie one.