The Great Chain Of Being, 2019, Fine silver, sterling silver, stainless steel, Posca, fabric and board, brooch dimensions variable 19 x 12 x 4 cm, 39g, dimensions with board 48.5 x 37.5 x 4 cm

The Great Chain Of Being comes from medieval ideas about the hierarchy of beings in the world; from god in the highest position to minerals and earth at the bottom. This work questions the value of this hierarchy and subverts the order by repositioning beings in an intertwined and rearrangeable order. The cage representing god and celestial beings has been torn open to show the that such energy cannot be contained. The person wearing the brooch is the missing link in the chain and represents the power humans have to impact other beings and the responsibility that comes with this. The internal objects are somewhat ambiguous and have been created in various ways. The snake skin object has been created by imprinting lace into wax, shaping and then casting it. While the leaf stem and rock/cave have been created through imprinting lace directly into silver, hand sawing, forming and riveting. These objects are made from sterling silver so that over time they will oxidise while the fine silver weaving connecting them remains bright. The weaving is created one loop at a time and held in place with stainless steel pins.