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. 

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. 

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.

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.

Listed below are the headings which I will be discussing her work under.

a. Interaction series

b. Hives series

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.

What kind of Imagery and symbolism have they used?

Ndongeni, S (2019). Xhosa Fertility Charms Display, East London Museum.b

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. 

Ndongeni, S. (2019). Xhosa love dolls , East London Museum. 

The Xhosa love dolls in the picture above were traditional worn by young girls who had the "misfortune" of not receiving a marriage proposal. These were not made by the young woman themselves, but were however made by old woman and were then to be secretly worn around the neck, until such a time the young girl received a marriage proposal.

These dolls were believed to have the ability to attract a husband.These dolls would therefore fall under the classification of spiritual jewellery. 

How is her work similar to mine?

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. 

Barbara Stutman

Stutman is a contemporary female artist and jewellery designer who uses her work in order to comment on female issues using chiefly symbolism^[1] and irony within her work.  Having a background in fine art, she has used her jewellery as an extension from what she had with 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. 

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

                                 i.            Which materials has she usedand why?

                               ii.            Which Techniques has she used?

                              iii.            What kind of Imagery andsymbolism has she used?

3. How is her work similar to mine?

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[1] “is an object or thing that has meaning more than the thing itself . A dog might represent fidelity in addition to being a pet; it is a visual sign for an idea or concept.” (Anon)

For the purposes of the paper, when the word symbol or symbolism is discussed, it will be referring to a representation any object, thing, person, feeling, living or any other non-living organism which is the specified subject matter.

Poetry

Before I discuss narrative poetry, I felt that it would be best to give my brief interpretation of what poetry is. One definition
 “A composition that conveys experiences, thoughts or feelings in a vivid and imaginative way. It is characterized by the use of literary techniques such as metaphor, rhyme or meter. “
There are various classifications find in poetry, mainly:
• Narrative
• Lyrical
• Limerick
• Free verse
• Haiku
• Concrete
• Dramatic
Keeping the above given information, I would define poetry as an intentional arrangement of works so as depict any given emotion, thought or situation. As a painter would use their colour and art principles in order to create  a specific feeling or portrayal of a subject in order to engage with an audience, so does a poet with words. However they would use poetic principles in order to achieve this

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   

           

                                            

Virtual gallery part 3

 “Too much is not enough”.
https://www.behance.net/gallery/15597031/Too-much-is-not-enough 

From the third paragraph I was able to discern that when working with narrative jewellery, one needs to consider the title of the piece very carefully so as to guide others towards their narrative and in their understanding of their work. This is especially important when the artist or jeweller has used symbolism which is not familiar nor known by their audience. An example of this would be using figurative elements so as to express an idea. An example I came across which depicted this paragraph was the work of Reka Lorincz, as seen above, which is a comment on the consumer mentality.

Let's play

In the name of exploring, I decided to see how the silhouettes would look like on clay. So as you can see in the picture below,I have pressed the pierced out metal onto the clay.   

Ndongeni, S. (2016) Clay exploration

I have also decided to play around with the various shapes I pressed the shapes on.  

Once these have dried up,I will place them in the kiln and then paint them.