An
Introduction:
No greater need.
No greater nuisance.
Dandelions are a problem.
In the early spring of this past year, I invited a selection of artists working in jewelry and metalsmithing to reflect on this small yellow weed and its broader implications. I shipped each artist a "resource packet" containing a non-comprehensive collection of poetry, current events, historical documentation, writings, recipes, taxonomies, and imagery—all centered around Taraxacum Officinale (the common dandelion).
Dandelion as resilience and sustenance. Breath as hope. Wish as nostalgia. Weed as boundary-breaker. Flower as a proposal for a better world.
Our conversations about weeds, flowers, bodies, our field, and the objects we create have been a constant source of nourishment over the past year. Jewelry and the objects we carry offer a unique opportunity to transcend the limitations and boundaries set by other forms of objecthood. Jewelry moves with bodies across time and space, and our field holds discussions that shift between art, craft, design, commodity, fashion, and so much more. The work in this exhibition proves that this ever-shifting, agile position is one of power.
I am humbled by the artists’ trust in this project and by the beauty and complexity they have created in response.
I encourage you to spend time with these objects and the words from each artist, as contained in this booklet. This exhibition is a space for these practices to cross-pollinate and grow as they share space in the same field.
Thank you for spending your time with this work.
It is my hope that this project invites a slow read, offers you a moment to reflect and wonder, and—maybe—that you make a wish the next time you encounter a dandelion.
- KP
Dandelion as resilience and sustenance. Breath as hope. Wish as nostalgia. Weed as boundary-breaker. Flower as a proposal for a better world.
Our conversations about weeds, flowers, bodies, our field, and the objects we create have been a constant source of nourishment over the past year. Jewelry and the objects we carry offer a unique opportunity to transcend the limitations and boundaries set by other forms of objecthood. Jewelry moves with bodies across time and space, and our field holds discussions that shift between art, craft, design, commodity, fashion, and so much more. The work in this exhibition proves that this ever-shifting, agile position is one of power.
I am humbled by the artists’ trust in this project and by the beauty and complexity they have created in response.
I encourage you to spend time with these objects and the words from each artist, as contained in this booklet. This exhibition is a space for these practices to cross-pollinate and grow as they share space in the same field.
Thank you for spending your time with this work.
It is my hope that this project invites a slow read, offers you a moment to reflect and wonder, and—maybe—that you make a wish the next time you encounter a dandelion.
- KP