Ornament is the leading magazine celebrating wearable art. Explore jewelry, fashion, beads; contemporary, ancient and ethnographic.
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JOYCE'S NECKLACE CLOSEUP of thread, beads, enamel, metal, horn, mixed stones, ivory, collected and gifted charms, 53.3 x 40.6 x 2.5 centimeters, circa 1990s. It is this aspect of Scott's work which makes it truly fascinating, because upon inspection one turns to introspection. Scott, through beading, makes faces, nude men and women, symbols, skeletons, demons, spirals, flotsam and jetsam. Her work is at its best when worn, where the otherwise flat imagery achieves dimensionality. To some of us, every item is recognizable, but not to everyone. How could it possibly do so? We are not all the same, inasmuch as we have lived separate lives, come from various backgrounds, been exposed to experiences that are ours alone, derived from cultures where meaning which is as plain as daylight in one becomes terra incognita in another. It is in that "not everyone" that the curiosity builds, because if one piece cannot communicate all its messages, in the same manner, from one individual to the next, how is the story passed on? The answer to that is what we do recognize, we put together, trying to find links between those parts, trying to find meaning, and the conclusions each observer of Scott's art comes to, is the story rendered. What we do not recognize, we interpret, or perhaps, misinterpret, although without knowing what the "correct answer" is, our interpretation is the only perspective available to us. From that jumbled mishmash comes the narrative. In some cases, depending on how much one of her pieces taps into the shared collective psyche, the narrative each viewer arrives at will be similar, and we as onlookers will be able to "agree" on what the story is. But as our powers of discernment and imagination diverge, that story NECKPIECES AND SCULPTURES BY JOYCE J. SCOTT 51 ORNAMENT 38.1.2015