Rebecca Strzelec: Written Brooch
Artist(s):
Title:
- Written Brooch
Exhibition:
Creation Year:
- 2004
Medium:
- FDM ABS plastic, medical adhesive
Size:
- 5.2 inches x 4.5 inches x 4. 7 inches
Category:
Artist Statement:
Written Brooch is about vacillation. It is based on a leaf I observed that was caught by its stem on the carpet of a front porch dusted with snow. As the wind blew, the leaf revolved around itself, drawing where it had been and where it was going over and over again. This piece refers to the decision-making process and how changing one’s mind often creates a cyclical pattern of events. My recent work is a continuing investigation of the ways wearable objects interact with body surfaces. While I have investigated different types of wearable objects, my current work consists of brooches. Using a variety of medical adhesives and wound-treatment devices, I create brooches that are applied directly to the skin. The adhesives provide an armature that accepts and supports the objects I create via CAD and rapid prototyping. While drawing inspiration from the female body, as well as other forms seen in nature, it is my intention to create hybrid organic forms that resist direct identification. Eliminating clothing as the attaching surface, I ask the viewer/wearer to see the brooch in the context of the naked female form, as well as let go of their preconceived notions of what jewelry is or needs to be. This new relationship challenges societal views of adorning oneself both through the placement of the object and the value of the material. Through my work, I redefine what can be considered jewelry and, more importantly, which jewelry can be considered art. I believe that art should exist to inform the viewer. When these brootches are worn, they create a dramatic tension, because they are placed intimately on the skin, adhering and adapting to the surface of the body.
Technical Information:
My involvement with the computer as a medium has allowed me
the freedom to design objects that I could not create by traditional means. This involvement in technology has given me the opportunity to embrace various fields outside of art and craft. Every aspect of each piece is created and conceptualized within the virtual building environment of a CAD application. I also recreate the medical devices, to scale, within this environment so I can build directly onto them. This virtual “fit test” allows me to create unique fluid transitions from the adhesive to the brooch. When the brooch has been completed within the CAD application, it is realized tangibly through the use of rapid prototyping technologies. My recent self-adhering brooch series is built using fused deposition modeling, an additive process that builds ABS plastic layer by layer. For the first time, I am taking advantage of color prototypes. My recent work has departed from the default “white” material and is now composed of a brilliant primary red.
