Wearable or Not?: Interacting with Contemporary Jewellery Exhibition

The exhibition was held on NOVEMBER 13 - 19, 2016, OCAD University, Toronto.
Curator: Sylvia Jielu Zhang.
ARTISTS: Jackie Anderson, Selina Chen, Fiona Kakei Chong, Nadya Eidelstein, Lauren Kalman, Belle Wong.

The exhibition investigates the notion of wearability and presents jewelry that challenges it. Some of the jewelry works are performative, while the others interact with wearers or even restrict body movement. Having developed since the 1960s, the ever-evolving contemporary jewelry breaks away from adornment, luxury, and convention. It converges with fine art and thus blurs the definition of wearability. This exhibition responds to people’s curiosity on contemporary jewelry’s function, and examines the shifted relationship between human body and jewelry. The six artists in the exhibition explore contemporary jewelry as a medium of artistic expression, pushing the boundary of wearability and experimenting with non-precious materials. By creating a multisensory experience that allows visitors to touch and wear some of the jewelry, the exhibition aims to generate a dynamic dialogue between the artists and the public, and provides a new perspective towards the interpretation of contemporary jewelry as an art form.