Much of my work addresses nature and abstraction and on a more subtle level it also deals with humanities attempts to define, control, and manipulate that which is found in nature. With this piece I decided to illustrate the idea of manipulation more clearly. Three brooches, all abstractions, lead the viewer through the transformation of a natural object into a “useful” tool. The tool in fact has no use at all and is meant to signify the environmental degradation that often comes with manufacturing as well as the devaluation of that which is natural, in this case the moth.
My interest in this topic stems from my artistic and scientific background. When asked why I chose to study both Art and Science, often by individuals that feel they are polar opposites, my response has always been that I view them as one in the same: having a core emphasis on observation and the understanding of the world around us. While this piece has taken on a more literal form of the ideas I often work with, I was also very aware of the irony of the process. I was using man made tools to create abstract forms generated from observation as I attempted to define and articulate my own concept.
