New Enamel Jewelry
Brooke Battles was born in Oklahoma but has lived in California since 1983. She is a second- career jeweler after years in the corporate world. She has exhibited her work both nationally and internationally, including in Velvet da Vinci’s CHESS, which was shown at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and Anti-War Medals, a show that toured internationally from 2003 to 2007.
Brooke Battles – « Cityscape » Neckpiece (detail)
« Each of us is pulled by conflicting forces: good and evil, sleeping and waking, vulnerability and strength, speed and accuracy, aging and youth. For me, the pull of order against disorder, of organization against chaos, is the challenge.
I have trouble with concepts of Orderly and Disorderly. « Orderly » can seem demanding, claustrophobic, predictable. But it also can be classic, comforting, mind-clearing. With order, things can be laid to rest. « Disorderly » can be unnerving, confusing, time-consuming., but in disorder is an honest beauty, a randomness that makes perfect sense . A riot of disorder tells a story you may really want to hear.
My subject matter has two focuses always: the garden and the home. Or the larger nature of the irreplaceable nature of the earth and community. But those subjects are always filtered through this struggle between the demand for control and order on one hand, and on the other, the search for discovery and serendipity that disorder allows.
And now, having discovered enamels, I am like a kid getting her first finger paints. I am enthralled with the depth of meaning and nuance that are possible with the riotous colors of the tropics, the rich variety of urban gardens, and the chaos and order of communities. They lend another layer to the organic feel my work has always had . »(Brooke Battles)
Brooke Battles -« Urban Garden » Neckpiece
Velvet da Vinci Gallery
2015 Polk Street
San Francisco CA 94109 (USA)
Phone 415.441.0109
website: www.velvetdavinci.com
mail: info@velvetdavinci.com
