JEM: A Timeline exhibit at the Atelier Gallery, Academy of Art University, 2019
About the Artist
I work with abandoned objects and transform them into unique jewelry pieces. Within my series, Resilience to Forgive, I design wearable art to explore unexpected forms of beauty. My goal is to inspire people in an encouraging way. I hope to inspire people to forgive themselves for not looking flawless, or for buying into the unrealistic standards of the beauty industry. In my series, I show how forgiveness is a journey towards finding our inner beauty. My artwork focuses on this tension between what we are told is beautiful and the authentic beauty we know is within us. The jewelry I create is a vehicle to inspire viewers to rediscover their own inner beauty, despite the media’s unrealistic expectations.
I manipulate used bicycle inner tubes, paper shreds, old newspapers or magazines, bullet-shells, and other cast-off materials to create jewelry compositions that explore new visions of beauty. My focus is to take what is traditionally seen as abandoned and repurpose it. I know we as individuals need to rethink the way we look at our own unique or unusual beauty. This series investigates ideas around my journey of forgiving myself, especially when faced with the constant bombardment of unrealistic beauty images in the media and through advertising.