Semester 2-Respond To The Jewellery Of Mary Curtis

We watched many photographs of Mary Curtis's work before we went to the objectspace gallery. These jewelleries include brooches, rings, earrings and necklaces. They are made of many different materials and all of them can be worn on the human body. In particular, these materials are some used or recycled things which are quite different from the traditional jewellery's material. It's hard for people to think of that they could wear wallpaper, fabric, cotton, paint as a jewellery on their body.
One of jewellery's primary function is personal exhibit. For example, if you are rich, you may probably wear a Rolex watch made of gold. If you come from minority nationality, you definitely want to wear some jewellery relate to your own culture. In fact, most of the young people are more likely to wear something which can express their individuality, develop their personality. And the materials of what young people wear are usually some recycled things like cotton rope, copper or plastic. This kind of jewellery may not as magnificent as European luxurious jewellery, but they are more close to life and public. So, in my opinion, making jewellery by using recycled things or some other simple materials is a kind of innovation, it is a trend.
Mary Curtis's works are so different from the traditional jewellery. Except the decoration and function, the way of presentation is also original. A good exhibition can make things look better. When we came to the objectspace gallery, I was so amazed by the method of how these jewellery display. Each one is in a vitrine and viewers can observe jewellery in different locations and viewing angles. And also, when viewers step into the gallery, each of these vitrines can grab viewers' eyes and these vitrines make artworks more shining and bright.
Back into the history, we find traditional jewellery is made of gold, sliver, wood, glass, etc. European jewellery is very famous around the world, most of these traditional jewellery has particular patterns, some may means lord or rich. Interestingly, we can also find some European style patterns from Mary Curtis's work. She using many this kind of patterns to decorate her works. For example, the red brooch, it's easily to see that there is a bright red European style patterns made of wallpaper. On the top of it, there are several very cute oval decorations. The other one is also a brooch with red centre, but this one is more like a 3D brooch, it's different from others. It looks like many small "sliver flower buds" are connected together and the flow of these sliver lines are also European style.
Jewellery like a kind of illustration, it illustrates people things by exhibit patterns, materials or carves. We can find some European jewellery's decorations from Mary Curtis's works, like patterns, shapes. She mix these elements together in her works and create a totally new form. In addition, jewellery is used for wearing and appreciating. Usually, the reason why we like to wear a jewellery is because of it's shape, pattern or material. So, to the best of my belief, the relationship between the decoration and function in the work of Mary Curtis is that the decoration decide the function. With the decorations made of unusual materials and display method, we can see how beautiful the jewellery and how the new form impresses us.