S C U L P T U R A L J E W E L R Y
Guilt and Commitment were created for an exhibition called TAG at the Society for Contemporary Craft in Pittsburgh, PA Contemporary Craft. Emotions and memories inspire my work as a metal artist.In discussion with my TAG partner, a local tattoo artist, I found that others are driven by their emotional state as well. Sometimes this is expressed in the form of a tattoo. One may choose to adorn their body permanently with an image of praying hands and the phrase “forgive me” underneath, thus wearing a reminder of their guilt for the rest of their life. Others may want their body art to represent their commitment to a certain group or their passion for an activity.
Committing to something or someone takes effort and emotional nourishment. In years past, I took the easy way out and avoided commitment. Later, I embraced commitment and got a tattoo as a symbol of my emotional awakening. As my TAG partner said, “There are always rough spots sometimes causing wounds that in the end were actually necessary for the commitment to become permanent. Like in tattooing.” Commitment captures this permanency by using copper, bronze, epoxy resin and a gothic font, which is common in tattoos, to convey the religious undertones of devotion.