Chloë Doran "Adorned Bereavement"

Chloë Doran (MD)

Adorned Bereavement
necklace, pearls, hair extensions, sterling silver
pendant measures 2.5" x 2" x 1"
*Available in-house at Ghost Gallery, available for local pickup or shipping

"This piece was created as a contemporary interpretation of Victorian mourning jewelry. During the Victorian period, mourning was significant and respected. People who experienced loss stepped away from their lives, changed their style of dress, and felt their grief thoroughly. Departed loved ones were carried on one's person physically in the form of hairwork jewelry. In today's society, grief is swept aside, packed away in the closet of the soul because, after all, who can afford to miss work? Drawing from this deterioration in our societal respect for grief as a decimating force, I created a necklace in the style of a Victorian sentimental piece; however, instead of hair, it contains fake hair extensions, and traditional memento mori imagery has been replaced by a goofy cartoon skull. Mourning as a fundamental emotional need has not changed, but we continue to force it into smaller and more superficial containers so as not to be crushed by the grinding wheel of capitalism. Perhaps if we are mindful of the way society has diminished loss, we can be kinder to ourselves in moments of grief."
Learn more about Chloë HERE