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

Technical Specifications

JEWELLERY TYPE	Interchangeable Ring-pendant
GEMSTONE TYPE	20 gemstones= heart shaped center stone, pear shaped gemstone and round brilliant cut stones
GEMSTONE SIZE AND AMOUNT USED	Heart=1 x 6mm by 6mm. Pear= 1 x 4mm by 3mm. Round brilliant cut= 8 x 1.25mm, 4 x 1mm and 5 x 1.5mm.
JEWELLERY DESCRIPTION	Heart ring-pendant, which has a center stone (heart) claw set, a pear bezel set and the round stones have been pave set. The piece of jewellery.

These are the technicals of the pendant part of the ring-pendant. Please note that the rod is wire showing where the wire for mechanism will go through.  

This picture shows the technical information of the ring-pendant as a ring. 

This ring-pendant will also be cast in two parts, so as to make provision for the fact wire needs to go through to allow the ring to move.

The Ilobola Series

One of the major inspirations for this specific series was a documentary I had watched based on child marriages in Africa. There was this one particular interview which was the core basis of thought. This young girl had actually said that she felt as though her father has valued the cows more than he had valued her life.

This is actually a popular idea  within the Native African cultures where a father would view a son as a legacy as it would be through him the family line would be expand and it would be through the marriage of his daughter he would be able to enlarge his kraal or wealth. Although this may not be how all fathers view their children, it has been then experience of many children and especially young girls who have been forced to marriages and I just this to be an appalling practice. I have tried to convey this in the poem below:

Figure 1: Ndongeni, S (2016). Rendering of A daughter's heart ring-pendant.

A Daughter’s heart

Ndingumtu(I am a person), with dreams and desires

Ndingumtu, with a heart

 Through you rip it

Still, Ndingumtu

What price have you placed on a lifetime?

Placed on a life time

Placed on a memory

Placed on the heart that loves you

What price have you received?

 So I could love you no more?

Tata, when did you teach your heart to love no more?

Tata, when did you teach your heart to forget ndiyinyanma negazi lakho (your very flesh and blood)

To forget my heart yinhliziyo yakho (is your very heart)

Tata (daddy), when did you teach your heart to no longer see a daughter in me?

In order to deal with the issues addressed in this series, I will discuss as follows:

a. Design concept one

b. Design concept two

How is her work similar to mine?

The Hives Series

In this series, Byrne, tends to work with various materials, sometimes using conventional jewellery materials, while other at times she may use unconventional materials such as food and actual flora. Whichever the case may be, she places a lot of consideration when selecting the various materials she works with in relation to her overall design piece.

Figure: 1 Byrne EC. (2014:18). Hives: Lip Swell, 2012

 The Hives picture is part of a series she had created in 2012, while trying to investigate how to convey a narrative concerning the human body; in this instance the way it would respond to external stimulus such as allergies. She has managed to form a visual depiction of a body’s response towards and allergic reaction. She has been able to suggest her allergic narrative through the use of her material choice which is a hexagonal mesh, which she had adjusted in order to silhouette the facial features of the modle (Bryne, (2014:18).

This series of narrative jewellery is very personal to her as she has been able to draw from her personal allergy to bees and thus use that to help create what would express the feelings of captivity she feels when faced with this situation. She has been very tactful with this piece even with the body placement selection so as to express the body’s reaction while also trying to give the viewer the idea that it could be regarded as neckpiece.

What kind of Imagery and symbolism has she used?

As previously stated, the main focus of Stuntman's narrative works are women and she therefore relies on a lot of imagery which will depict the various aspects of created womenhood in order to express her narrative. 

Figure 26 Figure 27 Barbara Stutman, (1996) Stacking Reality Brooch. [ONLINE]

In her series entitled "Stacking Realities",  as seen above; she has created a womanlike figurine with a tray attached to her. 

Figure 28 Stutman, B (1993). One Being Female. Brooch [ONLINE]

Her work is a creative collection which uses a vast number of imageries all centred on that specific subject matter. An example of this is the 4 part brooch taken from her "One Being Female" series. With these Brooches, she has incorporated the use of tampons alongside fine silver, Spandex, colouredcopper wire, brass and copper. 

Figure 29 Stutman, B. (1998) It’s a girl! 2 Fine silver and coloured copper ring. [ONLINE]

She sometimes also used shoes, specifically high hills in order to mock media for their false idea of their ideal women.

As seen in the three examples provided, she has relied on the usage of various imagery based on the specific subject matter, but all pertaining to  women. 

Which Techniques has she used?

In her work, Stuntman predominantly ues techniques such as embroidery, weaving, crocheting and knitting, techniques which were traditionally used by women. She uses these specific techniques as juxtaposition tools in order express her views on women to the world.  

Figure 27, is an example of her work taken from the “Impaired Vision” series.

 Figure 27 Stutman, B. (1997) Sugar and Spice: Must we be Nice? Brooch. [ONLINE]^[1]

In this piece she has chosen to use both knitting and crocheting as her main techniques. With this series, she was attempting to depict how media does not give a true portrayal of women, but however uses devices in order to create insecurities within women in order to further thier own agendas. 

According to Rachel Felder, one of the authors of the online publication Good Housekeeping; red lipstick is "unique combination of boldness, strength, and self-assured sexiness". However these are all ideologies which have been placed into the human psyche through media through out history. 

She has skillfully used these techniques closely associated with women to almost ask "is this really what you want women to focus on?" With the aid of her material selection she was able to further emphasis judgement of media for their depiction of the women. 

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[1]Available at: http://www.barbarastutman.com/works/impaired.php 

Which materials has she used and why?

Figure 26 Barbara Stutman, (2015) Imperfect Beauty IB23 Neckpiece. [ONLINE] 

            

The above picture is taken from Stuntman's series entitled “Imperfect Beauty”, in this particular series she was trying to explore the beauty found in “the old, the blemished, the humble and irregular.” In order to create these pieces she has worked with stretch bead cord, coloured copper wire, freshwater pearls, seed beads and magnets.

She has chosen to use these materials in order to express her narrative as these materials are able to create a rough appearance and give the idea of something scrappy looking in comparison to what could be described as a beautifully polished finish. These materials also provide her with dimension without adding additional weight to the piece (Guyomarc'h, 2018).  

In her work, she predominantly places focus on her message and therefore tries to consider all the relevant factors which will influence the final delivery. Material is therefore ine of these important factors as displayed in the example above.b

How does she deal with them?

Figure 25 Stutman, B. (1996) How to Become a Woman Parts 1-3 Brooches. [ONLINE]

The picture above, 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 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.

Which Issues does she address in her work?

Stutman tries to use her body of work as a vehicle which transports feminine concerns which 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.

1. Impaired visions 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] ^[1]

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).

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[1] Available at: http://www.barbarastutman.com/works/Resources/4-Impaired_3.jpg

East London Museum

During my time in East London, had visited the East London museum so as to get somr information about the Xhosa people. I had an interesting conversation with the one of the anthropologist from the museum, which I will be continued at a later stage. 

 The above display is one of the exhibiting Xhosa beadwork. I have also included a closeup picture of the painting which was placed above the display as it shows drawings of Xhosa people wearing their jewellery.

I will be adding more pictures from tbe visit at a later post. 

Caged bird formation

The Evolution of a Queen

In an earlier post I had written, I had posted about an item of jewellery worn by a Game of Thrones character (see link https://jewellersbride.blogspot.com/2019/06/daenerys-targaryen.html?m=1)
I came across this video which gives a brief flash of how this character once exchanged by her brother for personal gain, decided she would not be defeated by the life circumstances of her marriage, but instead rose to be a loved Queen.

I guess this is an example of when a person refuses to allow life to defeat them. 

Rose by any other name

My next design concept was yet another poem which I was busy writing about a wife. The general idea around the poem is that like a rose would always remain a rose even if it were to have another name, a slave would also remain just that even if you have chosen to instead call her umakoti/ wife. This is my way of conversing on the sometimes abusive and destructive practices young wives are forced to suffer all in the guise of it being a right of passage or part of the native African cultures.

Figure 2: Ndongeni, S (2016). Rose set.

As I began to both writing the poem and designing of the piece of rose chain, I became to remember that in 2016 I had had a similar concept in mind. At the time I had not decided to go the narrative route but to use roses as they are one of the flowers widely associated with love and weddings, I had in fact entitled one of my blogposts with the title: ‘a rose by any other name’. This had been an intentional play on words for both my poem and my item of jewellery as that is a title of a title of a poem based on a lie said by none other than Juliet from the famous story “Romeo and Juliet.  She was trying to give forth the idea that just because the man she happened to have love was the son from a family who was in fact the enemy of her own family, would not suddenly make her love for him change. Which is what I want to convey with my use of the line, however not as the title of the poem. The picture in figure 2 is one of the designs which had included a rose or was rose inspired which I had designed in 2016, which is a pair of earrings and a pendant.

Figure 1: Ndongeni, S (2016). Rose by Another Name Series. Silver chain with roses.

I therefore decided to make a rose chain as seen in figure 2, which I was trying to use as a mouthpiece to converse the idea that even though one may take a rose and place it on a silver chain, the chain still was a chain which enslaved the wife. I had looked at several slave chain and found that they were mostly oval and this was the chain shape I had chosen to make. I had decided to solder the small roses onto the actual chain.  I still have yet to finish off the chain, because I am sill undecided as to how to finish off the piece. However I want it to have a slave chain look and feel to it.   Nonetheless I want the overall theme to display the idea that as much as it may look attract to the eye, it doesn’t change the fact that causes harm nor the fact that it there to enslave her.

Figure 3: Rose by another name series, brass and crystal beaded bridal piece.

The third development of the series was the piece seen in figure 3, where I expanded on the slavery idea by making brass neck and arm cuffs. I tried to add a bridal element to the piece by using the clear crystal beads instead if chains.