Emasculate: ‘to make (someone or something) weaker or less effective.’
My degree collection focuses on the notion of ‘fragile masculinity’. A common expectation of the male stereotype is a man of steel, tough and resilient which many men try too hard to fit into in fear of appearing too feminine and vulnerable. This pressure can veer into certain unjustifiable behaviours and ultimately restricts many men from being true to themselves.
I take an ecologically conscious approach to my work by making with discarded materials and natural, renewable resources. I communicate fragile masculinity through eggshells that have been crushed and pigmented with vegetation. I bonded them together with casein (milk protein) and utilized 3D printing technology to create moulds. The aesthetic embraces the zen concept of wabi sabi (imperfect, incomplete and impermanent) which the designs transmit through their understated elegance, roughness and simplicity.
Long Green Necklace
Rustic Necklace with Ring
Multi-coloured Necklace
Back of Rustic Necklace and a Two Finger Ring
Giant Ring and Mould
Oversized Rings
Research
Process shots of the making of the long green necklace
Natural dyeing process and multi coloured necklace
Formation and process shots of rustic necklace
Giant ring and 3D printing process