Societal Jewelry
2023–2024
Common uses for modern jewelry include, but are not limited to: a purely functional item to hold or fix things, a display of affiliation to a group or a society, as an amulet to ward off bad luck or bring in good fortune, carrier of personal meaning such as love, achievement or mourning, as an investment to hand down generation after generation, as an expression of artistic talent, or most widely used as a marker of social status of an individual, such as wealth and power.
What if jewelry was less used as “a marker of social status of an individual, such as wealth and power”, but as “a marker of social status as a whole, such as what the defining issues of a society are at a given moment in time”?
Depending on where you are, the “defining issues” could be any of these, for example: wars, climate change, gender inequality, wealth gap, systematic racism, pollution, political instability, gun violence, refugee crisis, food insecurity, healthcare, mental health, lgbtq+ rights, reproductive rights, children’s rights, disinformation and so on.
Experimenting with different shapes, colors and textures, I aimed to create a form of “societal jewelry”, which symbolizes different social phenomena in an abstract nature. This way, jewelry, which is normally a display of personal characteristics, is used to showcase social issues and dilemmas.
1. Form
A. Harmony
Circular forms symbolizing calm and unity
B. Suspense
Sharp and rigid forms that add tension
C. Fusion
An intriguing mix of harmony and suspense
2. Content
A. Color
Different tones for different emotions
B. Texture
Different surfaces for different phenomena
C. Embellishments
A unifying element on top ties it all together
3. Result
“Diversity”
“War”
“Climate”
Booklet
Sources
Satellite photos used as textures and embellishments:
United States Geological Survey
