Joy BC
Dismantle (with diamonds), 2023
Recycled 18kt yellow gold, recycled 925 silver, black rhodium and 0.70kt natural yellow diamonds
Edition 1 of 3 plus 1 AP
Unique within the series
” To fully understand classical sculpture, I felt the urge to ‘deconstruct’ or ‘cut’ it apart. I use to dogmatically look for ultimate ‘perfection’, being taught through institutions and western society what proportions and western ideals of beauty were. Then the only way to fully understand it I felt was to dismantle it, take it all apart. I was also interested in why western sculptures were stone white and shown in white gallery spaces. Many Greek sculptures where highly colored and it was only much later on that were they bleached either by weather, time or individuals. When I studied at the Glasgow school of art, and had my lunch in the corridors, there were huge white plaster copies of Michelangelo’s ‘enslaved’ and ‘la Vittoria di Samothrace’ – all of which were white. I was also the year of the first fire, and saw images of the white plasters totally blackened by the smoke. That image stayed with me – hence the blackening of the silver. This piece explores ideas of beauty and decay. The diamonds are placed between the ‘cuts’, putting positive emphasis on questioning and ‘dismantling’ of western ideals on beauty”. Joy Bc