Monday, November 1, 2010

Baobab earrings- Vetkat regopstaan







I designed these earrings for the Vetkat Regopstaan exhibition, Vetkat is a Bushman who creates Bushman art, I was intrigued mostly by his drawings of the Baobab and came up with this design after many test pieces.
My aim for these earrings was to create them with a relaxed approach (intentional carelessness), in terms of not being too fussed about little flaws that happened during the manufacturing process. My reasoning behind this was that I imagined Vetkat, being a bushman from a very rural environment, was not tied up in the westernised Ideas of ‘perfection’ and I felt that his work had a very down to earth, unrefined appearance which I wanted to portray in my work.
I used this ‘careless’ approach by stamping the bordering pattern without measuring the position and spacing of each punch. I also used a glass brush to emerge the light silver shade from the black patina in a ‘relaxed’ fashion. After roll milling a taper on the bar for the spiral shepherds hooks, I forged it slightly with the least caution possible and then bent it into a spiral shape, also quite carelessly so it deliberately had sharp curves and kinks in the metal to mimic the zigzag effect of the Baobab's branches. Again with the shepherd’s hooks I wanted to get an overall handmade feel to match the rustic Baobab elements.
When I look at these now, though at the time I didn’t realise when I was designing them, they encompass the characteristics of a Mandala which are a centre point, a circular design and some form of symmetry. Though not a typical Mandala, these earrings still bear the essential qualities of the Mandala.

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