Ornament is the leading magazine celebrating wearable art. Explore jewelry, fashion, beads; contemporary, ancient and ethnographic.
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VESSEL of woven glass beads, mixed media, wire, 35.6 x 30.5 x 30.5 centimeters, 2006. LOVERS CLOSEUP of woven glass beads, 28.6 x 23.5 centimeters, 2007. BREATHE of hand-blown Murano glass, beads, wire, thread, 52.1 x 49.5 x 5.1 centimeters, 2014. Photograph by Patrick R. Benesh-Liu. while the nuances can take endless permutations, the core is giving birth. Whether that is to a new humanity, the constant cycle of death and rebirth, the immortal mother, or even how ideas come out into the world is the debate. Scott realizes her work through a robust comfort with discomfort. That is to say where we throw up our hands in disgust, or dig in our heels and resist, she flows like water to find a new path forward. She gives in the catalog as a case-in-point an encounter she had during her collaboration in Murano. "When we were working on Water Mammy, now in the collection of the Museum of Arts and Design, they did all the work on the figure of the woman but in the end didn't succeed with the feet. They were going to throw it away. I stopped them—after all there are many ways to approach things. I realized I couldn't make the figure stand up, but I began to wonder what would happen if she were upside down: she could then encompass ideas of distress, disorientation. For me dealing with wrong turns, failures, or mistakes leads to other wonderful things." With such a view of life, one can see how Scott's beaded sagas come about. While there might be some intention which leads to a particular face or figure being made, the meandering route, the umbilical cords and seemingly random shapes and uncertain connective tissues no doubt stemmed from starting at point A and heading to destinations unknown. And for Scott, that is the entire point. Here is one trick the more sensitive of you might be aware of. In trying to find meaning in Scott's work, one will find that it is much the same process as a camera lens being adjusted. Without connections, the individual elements of Scott's jewelry and sculpture have no meaning as a greater whole. One can stare blankly and be devoid of comprehension. But, as one's mental gears churn, and each piece of the puzzle is put together, realization dawns. Suddenly, it all comes into focus; you understand. And from that, meaning is born. That is the greatest triumph of Joyce J. Scott's craft. 53 ORNAMENT 38.1.2015