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Grant Recipient

You could see it, seeping through his suit.

Marley White

Windgate-Lamar Fellowship

2020

My work communicates themes of human engagement and social unease, bringing awareness to an overwhelming lack of empathy. My own difficulties with emotional intimacy are caused by an inability to express vulnerability. The increasingly removed modes of communication and our tendencies of self-preservation creates a distance between each other. I reimagine lived experience as body adornment; using our tangible understanding of jewelry to contextualize the nuances within intangible relationships and exchanges. I challenge your ability to interact with this work; simple movements are emphasized and affectionate gestures become hindered, mirroring the subconscious barriers that inhibit interactions. With this body of work, I question the deprivation of emotional openness in contrast to the ease of physical intimacy. When engaging with the pieces intended for the body, an initial understanding is intuitive. Investigating these ideas through metalsmithing brings attention to areas of the self that are not easily accessed, creating a connection between the body and mind. The language of the material and process is permanent but it is not stagnating, creating feeling devices that speak to our familiarity with jewelry yet nothing of its convention, sparking an on-going consideration of our subconscious. When worn, the jewelry provokes a sense of vulnerability, empathy, and disunity. The experience is simultaneously unfamiliar for both the viewer and the person wearing the work.

Bio of the Artist

Organization Background

Location

Richmond, VA

EDUCATION

Virginia Commonwealth University of the Arts

SPECIALIZATION

Metalworking

Institution

Grant amount

$15,000

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Selected works

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