Medusa Comb
Joy BC Medusa Comb, 2021 bronze, recycled 18kt yellow gold, VVS TTLC natural diamonds, brooch 13 x 3.5 x 1 cm unique “This metamorphic artwork challenges definition. A mutating comb, a brooch – both a sculpture and a jewel. The teeth of the comb seem to be moving, swaying like the tendrils of an anemone under the sea. We often talk about nature as if it is something separate from us, but we are nature. Medusa connects the human and the animal. She attracts yet disturbs the viewer – her hair a bed of writhing snakes. Though we may think of her as a monster, she was the only mortal out of her gorgon siblings. Her name literally means ‘Queen’. It was the act of violence, rape and scorn that changed her. Medusa has been a subject for artists throughout the centuries, including Canova, Caravaggio, Bernini, Rubens, Cellini and Yinka Shonobare. This brooch is my modern take on Medusa. To me, it is a story of a powerful woman wronged – a story that has been repeated over centuries. But it is also a story of transformation and power”.
Hypatia
Joy BC Hypatia, 2021 bronze, 18kt recycled yellow gold stell and garnets brooch 10.5 x 8.5 x 1.5 cm unique “Hypatia was a force of nature. A Greek Philosopher and Mathematician. A woman who was written about by Plato in a patriarchal society. She was also murdered. In previous works, I have explored the hidden histories of forgotten female heroes, creating miniature-monuments in their honour. This brooch is to celebrate and honor Hypatia – but also to protest against violence to women. The historical recurrence of violence to women, for simply being a woman, is barbaric.In ancient times a brooch could be an emblem of authority, wealth and power. Brooches have also often been a mode of protest or a billboard of one’s beliefs. Think of badges with slogans on or the suffragette pins.The red patina and the deep blood red garnets represent bloodshed. Both bronze and yellow gold are affiliated with artworks from the Hellenistic period (323 BC-31BC). This work combines a noble metal (gold), most associated with jewelry, with a material (bronze) synonymous with sculpture”.
