We often imagine our identities and bodies as fixed, final versions of ourselves. In reality, though, we are continuously shedding old aspects of ourselves and incorporating new ones. Wet-A-Bed is a reflection on this continuous shift between states, centering on the visual anchor of a dandelion’s transition from yellow flower to white blowball. The removal of a surface reveals a new surface underneath itself. This new surface is not meaningfully more true to the object, only one that is next for the object.

J Taran Diamond is a metalsmith, craft educator and internationally published scholar on the subject of jewelry based in Baltimore, Maryland. Diamond holds an MFA from the University of Georgia, in addition to a BFA from the University of North Texas. Diamond’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including exhibitions at New York City Jewelry Week, the Czong institute of Contemporary Art in Gimpo, South Korea, and the National Ornamental Metal Museum in Memphis, Tennessee. Diamond has also completed residencies at the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts and the Baltimore Jewelry Center, where she is currently a Teaching Fellow and Studio Manager. Outside of the studio, Diamond is an advocate for black people in the fields of craft and academia, and works to help achieve equity and accessibility within those fields.