Hard Wear (2006/2009)

In Hard Wear adornment objects are constructed using both traditional and experimental jewelry techniques. These objects are then documented or performed as photographs, videos, or live performance. Over the course of human history, gold has been a symbol of wealth and power because it has signified purity, immortality, and permanence. In contrast, the body, specifically the female body, is represented as fragile, transient, and often abject. It is an object to be purified. Gold in the form of jewelry is worn on the body as an aesthetic extension of the desire for perfection. In Hard Wear gold, as the image of perfection, is juxtaposed with the reality of bodily corruption. In this work when gold is presented in a perishable or unattractive forms, its perceived inherent qualities of permanence and beauty come into question. It is an investigation into the social construction surrounding the myth of gold and its ability to purify the imperfect body.