Image Not Available
Witness
Collection:CSM Museum & Study Collection
Date: June 2021
Artist: Ruby Mellish
Dimensions:
75 × 165 × 10 mm (7.5 × 16.5 × 1 cm)
Medium: Acetate and Brass
Object number: J.2021.69.CC
DescriptionAcetate and brass eyelashes.
Description from the designer:
Ruby’s collection draws on her personal experience of isolation. Deprived of external inspiration, Ruby became her own muse, questioning her own perception of identity through the image of her eye. Her eye-pieces subvert conventions of traditional self portraiture by enabling the wearer to see from the artist’s perspective. Viewing the human eye as a vessel of 'the self', Ruby uses acetate to allow the wearer’s face to become part of each piece. By distorting her eye in a variety of ways, she shows the inability to truly capture 'the self', which is constantly fluctuating and inherently personal.
(Above: Interpretative text by Moa Jegnell, BA (Hons) Culture, Criticism and Curation)
Witness explores my observation of my fluctuating identities during lockdown. Lack of external influence intensified my sense of self-awareness, including my visual image, my self-perception and my understanding of identity. Witness, in contrast to my other pieces, allows the wearer to see, achieving my objective of creating ‘awareness’ under the influence of my perspective.
Constructed of acetate and brass wire, the piece is lightweight enabling it to sit on the face, pinching the nose (as the point of attachment). When Witness is commissioned, I build it using the wearer’s eyes, printed onto acetate and laser cut. Delicate rivets hold the eyes together while they are pinched between forged brass wire at the line of the wearer’s eye lids.
Description from the designer:
Ruby’s collection draws on her personal experience of isolation. Deprived of external inspiration, Ruby became her own muse, questioning her own perception of identity through the image of her eye. Her eye-pieces subvert conventions of traditional self portraiture by enabling the wearer to see from the artist’s perspective. Viewing the human eye as a vessel of 'the self', Ruby uses acetate to allow the wearer’s face to become part of each piece. By distorting her eye in a variety of ways, she shows the inability to truly capture 'the self', which is constantly fluctuating and inherently personal.
(Above: Interpretative text by Moa Jegnell, BA (Hons) Culture, Criticism and Curation)
Witness explores my observation of my fluctuating identities during lockdown. Lack of external influence intensified my sense of self-awareness, including my visual image, my self-perception and my understanding of identity. Witness, in contrast to my other pieces, allows the wearer to see, achieving my objective of creating ‘awareness’ under the influence of my perspective.
Constructed of acetate and brass wire, the piece is lightweight enabling it to sit on the face, pinching the nose (as the point of attachment). When Witness is commissioned, I build it using the wearer’s eyes, printed onto acetate and laser cut. Delicate rivets hold the eyes together while they are pinched between forged brass wire at the line of the wearer’s eye lids.