SALIGIA

Good evening my cherished otherbeasts! Aren't you glad it's 'Hump Day' Wednesday? I know I am.

I decided I'd like to share something with you that not many people have seen and that many less have understood. I graduated with a BFA in Studio Art, emphasis in Jewelry/Metalsmithing and even though I should have majored in Psychology, I realize that really turned my thesis into a psychological thriller - so I suppose, mission accomplished. I'd like to share that with you now.

I have always been fascinated by human emotion: what drives it, what affects it, the reasoning behind it; I just really am enthralled with the whole idea. I have always loved to provoke thought in people and the goal of my thesis was to do just that.

Let's see if YOU can piece the puzzle together. Challenge issued!

There will be a quiz following this blog! Kidding. Kind of.

In Latin, Septem Peccata Mortalia is translated to mean The Seven Deadly Sins. This series, SALIGIA, is about exploring the relationships between the institution of human emotion and psychological, as well as emotional, threats to social 'normality.' This idea is explored by using precious metals such as fine and sterling silver as well as yellow gold. These materials, often employed in 'typical' or 'classical' jewelry, evoke the feeling of preciousness, value, sentiment, and sometimes, as a symbol of financial status. Since precious materials such as the ones being used already have implied connotations, to use them to idolize and glorify symbols of social 'depravity' presents the observer with an internal struggle: wrestling with and caught between admiring the adornments as artistic jewelry and coping with the uncomfortable ideology wrought with consequences that we learned growing up.

Conversely, when juxtaposed against the opposing Seven Holy Virtues, which are executed precisely with the intent to convey tattered and neglected brooches in seemingly 'lesser' materials such as copper and brass, the viewer is forced once again to question their emotional and psychological state. The intent of these pieces are to be easily ignored or unnoticed when in direct viewing with the more 'precious' and larger pieces. These brooches can easily sit in the palm of one's hand and since materials like copper, brass, paper, and plastic are used more commonly for plumbing or 'less virtuous' tasks, it coerces the viewer to consider that without such basic materials our lives would be in much less of a clean state - the point to which is that without the morals that the Virtues teach, our humanity would be thrown severely out of balance, and a world paradigm would shift bringing much havoc.

These works are multi-layered, rich in concept and narrative, leaving the viewer to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Each individual work can stand alone as its own statement, articulated in a precise manner, but when the pieces are viewed together as a cohesive body of work, a shift occurs in our subconscious: we recognize the artistic value yet struggle to cope with how the actual themes behind the work resonate within our own psyche.Through subtle dualities, incongruities, and potential physical hazards presented in a jewelry setting meant to adorn the body, an internal shift of realization takes place inside the viewer. Since this collection is deliberately quiescent and covert, this body of work will not overtly or directly 'scream' an answer to the observer; rather, each piece of the puzzle lies in wait, letting each individual form their own unique opinions and take what they want or choose to take from the collective presentation - that is the freedom of human emotion.

So, my lovely otherbeasts, did you fit together the puzzle? Do you know which one of the deadly sins is which? 5 points is on the line.

Until Next Time,
~ Shade <3