Glass sculpture: Precious Memories and life’s achievements –
an ode to Alzheimer’s inspired by Faberge Eggs
We take for granted our memory, our recollections of a myriad of details as well as the events which have defined the chapters of our lives.
Our brain is the repository of the riches and vibrancy of the past. Precious memories are the jewels embedded in our crown, the essence of who we are. But our mind is vulnerable to disease, to forms of dementia such as Alzheimer’s. Parts of the brain atrophy, becoming a dead space, enlightenment extinguished. What was life itself drains away, leaving an absence.
These glass sculptures are my response to my mother’s descent into Alzheimer’s – where’s Jean gone?
The eggs of Peter Carl Faberge epitomise riches, preciousness, creativity, life’s stories and enlightenment. They embody master skills, life’s achievements and learning. The eggs convey a sense of power and strength, the ability to fight and win life’s battles.
Faberge eggs always have the joy of a surprise hidden in the interior. I have exchanged this for the shock of loss in my counter pieces.
Glass Sculpture – The Tree of Recolection
‘The Tree of Recollection’ is based on the Orange Tree Egg (1911) The tree is shaped into the form of a brain. Each of the gold lustred flowers, petals and gems represent precious memories. The wise owl suggests the power of our intellect. Countering this is a crow, alone on its plinth with black foliage, alluding to the death of all we treasure.
Glass Sculpture – The world is no longer what it was
‘The world is no longer what it was’ is drawn from The Steel Military Faberge Egg (1916) The symbol of military might and power is transformed into the shape of our brain, supported by an armoury of tanks and artillery shells, metaphors for the reserves we draw on to fight life’s challenges. Gemstones are set into the brain reminding us of our personal victories.
Faberge’s surprise was a painting depicting the Tsar at the battlefront of the Great War. Here the shock is a scene of utter devastation based on Paul Nash’s painting, ironically called ‘We are making a new world’. The landscape is burnt and blackened, nothing remembered, void of life.
