Animals Are Beautiful and Precious
2021-2023
A collection of black and white animal portraits, embellished with a mix of rough, polished and cut precious and semi-precious stones, gold, pearls, shells and jewellery components all cut from paper. While not real precious gems, it can be difficult to source old books on the subject without resorting to purchasing online (something I prefer not to do) and therefore these paper jewels do have their own distinct kind of rarity. While these collages may look random and simple to make, much time is taken to carefully consider the colours, shapes and types of stones used, as many ‘run out’ and need to be repositioned, supplemented, swapped out or omitted for the final arrangement. To use so many of them in such a decorative fashion seems almost reckless, as all negative space needs to be adequately filled. Using these cut outs that almost gleam on the page, I wanted to highlight the animals in the centre and showcase them as something equally as rare and precious, worthy of our gaze, care and attention.
