27 October 2019
My Critical reflection on the object:
The object I would like to talk about is a Wendy Ramshaw neckpiece that I came across at the Jewellery Gallery at the V&A. I was initially drawn to the object for its interesting geometrical composition and a curious description that featured Picasso’s artwork. The betrayal of conventional aesthetics and materials also sparked a series of questions regarding the origin of the wireform shapes, and the functionality of the object as a piece of jewellery. In trying to find these answers, I was introduced to Wendy Ramshaw’s abstraction process, which formed the basis of my subsequent inquiry into my own aesthetic identity. Part of her collection ‘Picasso’s Ladies’, the piece responds to Picasso’s pencil drawing for ‘Portrait of a Woman’, through the use of blackened silver, combining shapes abstracted from the original image with her own aesthetic vocabulary of curving lines, repetition, navigation elements and zig zag patterns. The object questions the role of functionality within the design of objects of desire, and prompts emotional response and dialogue through visual stimulation.
design factory 