Belle Brooke, "From the Ashes."

Materials: Oxidized sterling silver, 18k yellow gold, GVS diamond melee, pear-shaped rose-cut emerald

Pendant Dimensions: 2.5" in length, 1" in width
Chain is 25"

About the piece:

"In many ways, I grew up in the eye of the storm in regards to contraceptives and abortion rights. As a Gen X kid we were too young to understand what it was like not to have the right to choose to end an unwanted pregnancy. We grew up reading about Roe v. Wade in history books and getting quizzed on it in history class. Coming of age in the 90’s I remember having the pro-life vs. pro-choice debate amongst friends and classmates. It was naively civil in comparison to today’s cutthroat social media arena. 

This is a personally meaningful project to me. I have approached this vessel piece from my own wounds (very much plural). In college I took a Plan B pill. I got it from the school nurse, it was no big deal. It made me feel pretty bad for about 24 hours and then it was over. Here’s the thing – I think that embedded in the so called “choices” women (people born with uteruses) make are some deeply seeded boundary issues that stem from unfair and somewhat unspoken of cultural standards for women in our society, to be “nice” – a.k.a. trusting, submissive, docile, and subservient. 

We do things and go along with things in the act that we know we shouldn’t. At least I have, multiple times. We trust people we think we know, even our own partners. I have been coerced into sex more times than I would like to admit. And not just by the new guy, by monogamous partners as well. The social norm is the real culprit. First we devalue women by using them and now it’s OUR problem? It’s the uterus owners as the bad guys? Excuse me, NO. So now, our powerless and devalued selves are now being told we can’t make choices for ourselves either (in some states). 

I saw this vessel as needing a yonic component and used a partial casting from my collection, the Open Leaf to create the symbology of the feminine, and the womb. I wanted this womb to rise from the ashes like a phoenix. I chose a beautiful rough rose cut emerald for its color green to symbolize rebirth. We are birthing a new paradigm. It may not look like it, it may be a bloody mess - with politicians dressed in religious robes thinly veiling some kind of a money play to prop up a political agenda that we can’t quite grasp – but the only way out is through, and we are in the thick of it now. I ask you to look into your experiences and see if you have ever been on one side or the other of my story. This is where we begin to change, this is the pile of ashes that we rise from."
 

About the artist: 

"Belle Brooke Barer established Belle Brooke Designs in 2006 upon her return to Los Angeles. Born and raised in Houston, Tx,Barer ventured westward in 1997 to attend Pitzer College in Claremont, Ca. Her studies at Pitzer concentrated in various mediums of studio art, focusing mainly on photography. After moving north to the San Francisco bay area, she began her jewelry studies at The Crucible in Berkeley, Ca, and later attended the Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts in San Francisco, where she received her professional certification as a goldsmith. After completing her studies she worked for Studio 311 as a bench jeweler. Belle has been the recipient of various awards most notably the AGTA Spectrum awards in 2012 and 2018, the Mort Abelson New Designer of the Year award in 2008, and the Halstead Grant in 2007. She currently makes her home in Santa Fe, Nm where she runs her flagship store Rock + Feather on the historic Canyon road, all her jewelry is made in her workshop adjacent to the gallery, where she also teaches workshops and classes."