ALLIAGES
Until Death Do Us Part Anna Börsöck / Hungary
Brooch “Pineapple?”, 2021 tin can, nickel silver, ash, found gold engagement ring, pvc foil
Hand cutted, recycled materials, bezel setting
PRICE ON REQUEST
Pineapple? Brooch “Until death do us part” became an empty phrase, the meaning has changed. It's hard to take seriously. Nothing is long-term. In today’s uncertainty, we don’t know the next step. Everything can only be interpreted in the present. It is only important as long as the massage is clear. Only our objects remember us. The preserved moment in my brooch consists of three components. The pineapple box is a mass product, just one of many and a sweet taste of a memory. The unopened cover hides the tension from the viewer. It symbolizes the line between the known and the unknown. The message is behind it, revealing it to the wearer. The box hides ash and a found wedding ring, symbolizing the passing of time and renewal. This is the beginning, the promise itself. A year ago, I found the ring while walking in a beautiful park. I wonder whose it was. I wonder what it meant. Did they stay together? Only the ring left here. The brooch commemorates the unknown answer.
ALLIAGES
Until Death Do Us Part Charlotte Vanhoubroeck / Belgium
Bracelet “N° 4 - Un bracelet avec le portrait du Roi, entouré de brillants, tour de bras avec modèle, gourmette avec chaînon en brillants”, 2021. Sterling silver, glass. Soldering, glass casting, glass printing. NOT FOR SALE
Charlotte Vanhoubroeck / Belgium For her ongoing collection Stilled Sentiments Charlotte is investigating and reactivating the lost sentimental jewellery of Belgium’s first queen Louise-Marie d’Orléans. These pieces reveal secrets of the myth about Louise and will eventually, all together, construct a contemporary miniature museum of Louise’s lonely mind. Jewellery piece N° 4 once was a medallion that Louise was given as a wedding gift by her king. The piece displays his miniature portrait and many state portraits, prints and statues of Louise depict her wearing the medallion. It was a symbol of love and marital loyalty that this queen has worn for her king Until Death Did Them Part. Jewellery piece N° 54 once was a bracelet. It carried a miniature portrait as well, only this time it depicted Louise’s son, Belgium’s very first prince. Unfortunately, the child never made it to its first birthday. Mother and child Parted too soon by Death, and a grieving Louise had to learn how to honor the infinite void in her life.
ALLIAGES
Until Death Do Us Part David Walker / Australia
Hand piece/Ring “Departure Lounge/Memento Mori”, 2021 925 silver, stainless steel, nylon Hand fabricated
PRICE ON REQUEST
“(Until) death do us part” is usually associated with the end of a marriage through the death of a partner but it can be applied to any aspect of life that involves depth of feeling, passion, or intensity, that is at some point ended. Death is also associated with grief, sadness, and regret, so it is a consolation that we have birth and rebirth as forms of renewal that take us into a hopeful future. The exhibition title also reminded me of the phrase “Memento Mori” advising that we must all die and that we should make the most of what life we have.
ALLIAGES
Until Death Do Us Part Klara Brydewall Sandquist / Sweden
Brooch “Dead man 1”, 2019
Brooch “Dead man 2”, 2019
Brooch “Dead man 3”, 2019
silver, fine silver, steel
silver, fine silver, steel
silver, fine silver, steel
Casted silver skeleton with electroformed skin
Casted silver skeleton with electroformed skin
Casted silver skeleton with electroformed skin
PRICE ON REQUEST
I work with female anger and I apply with a group of three silver brooches that represent specific persons that I´ve met. Each of the brooches is about 13cm long. First I cast a silver skeleton, about 13cm long. After that I make the body. I sculpt it in wax, using the skeleton as it´s core. Then I paint the body with metal paint, so that I can electroform the skin in silver. I then drain the man of wax,- when dipped in a bath of boiling hot water, the wax can escape through the mouth. The man is now a hollow piece with a skeleton inside. After that craft related violence (such as a hammer, a flame and/or my hands) is used to break the body. The crafting of these brooches seems to describe me as an evil person, rather than my reactions towards evil. And I think that is what makes the wearability important. As a female, my anger is always too loud or too quiet, and far too often it seems like speaking makes more of an impact on the interpretation of me than the problem itself.
ALLIAGES
Until Death Do Us Part Leslie D. Boyd / USA
Necklace “Looking Glass”, 2020 Silver, obsidian, rayon. Necklace. Fabricated silver, carved stone.
PRICE ON REQUEST
While coping with coping I run my fingers over the embossed silver of my grandmother’s hand mirror. Over time I flip it over and gaze into my eyes, trying to come to terms with their complacency in systems and worlds and dreams that are broken. I don’t let myself do this enough. I tell my students not to speak in generalizations (I told them this morning, in fact), but dare I say that we don’t do this enough? Exist with ourselves quietly? But here it is late one night on the 9th month of this year that never seems to end. I cannot help but be histrionic, by nature an over sharer. The rabbit can’t go back in the hat. Or whatever those other sayings might be. . . So I make a necklace of polished obsidian. To gaze in. To face myself. A scrying glass is meant to tell fortunes, but in mine I make promises. To try and get some sleep, to be gracious, to peel away the veneer and see the raw wood beneath. To oil it and care for it and persist in being.