I am interested in jewelry as both the format and subject of my work which exists in a space between design and craft. Serving as my subject, I find mass-produced jewelry has the capacity to serve as a cultural symbol for sentiment. As a craftsperson I am suspicious of these industrially produced objects that embody perceived emotional significance. Craft objects are characterized by a potency that stems from the connection and enduring value to their maker. I play in the area where industry intersects with emotion injected with my own sense of craft. Here I am developing a craft based body of work in which I appropriate found mass-produced commercial jewelry.
There is an implicit understanding in the commercial jewelry industry that diamonds are inherently eternal and by extension forever linked with romance. The importance that lower-middle class jewelry manufacture places on a relationship with the diamond is intended to project an image of exorbitant wealth and class distinction. My cast silver rings and diamond structures do not pretend to be diamonds, but rather satirize the grandeur implied by minute diamonds largely set and mounded like trophies in the found rings.
Mass-produced objects are so ubiquitous that a craft process of absorbing the sensibilities of the material has shifted into emphasizing quantity and currency rather than quality. I continue my research on mass-production with the intent to sustain craft practice, while drawing attention to the characteristics and implications of mass-produced jewelry.