Destruction Construct

Material: Silver, Enamel Paint

Dimensions: 63cm x 48cm

I started my project, “Destruction Construct”, earlier this year 2024, as a visceral reaction to the humanitarian disaster I was watching on the news, with image after image of rubble, following attack after attack on Gaza. I am horrified by the on-going deaths of thousands of children, women and men. A ‘gross’ is an apt word for the 144 lapel pins that make up the overall piece. This number comes from the standard sized 16:9 television screen. Each lapel pin is a 16mm by 9mm piece of silver with recycled off cuts from my jewellery jobs randomly soldered on to represent the rubble and chaos on our screens. It was cathartic for me. My hope for some order and logic is achieved by placing the lapel pins in formation 16 across by 9 down, a construction that results in the overall piece. Each pin is numbered 1 to 144 on the back, in sequence. Occasionally on news reports we see snatches of colour punctuating the grey rubble and dust from destroyed buildings – the occupants pieces of furniture, wallpaper in exposed houses, and their clothing. One particular report after a bombing stays with me showing a young boy in a red T-shirt sifting through the rubble for who knows what. I added red, black and green enamel paint to the whitish-grey soldered silver, to subtly reference the Palestinian
flag. The collective framed piece, 63cm x 48cm, straddles being an art piece reflecting the times we are living in, and individual jewellery. Lapel pins are popular now reflecting different aspects of society. They show a person’s reaction, support or affiliation with groupings in music, sports, politics, various causes and concerns. I hope to sell the lapel pins individually with a postcard image of the art piece of which it is a part, or as one piece, with a percentage going to aid the people of Palestine.