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| A preservation of beauty: Mark McDean 2011 |
For Mark, the word 'preservation' in his artwork 'A Preservation of Beauty' (and I quote) reminds me of the Fowlers Vacola jars my grandma used to have. To preserve fruit was a feminine domestic ritual. I was always inspired by the way the fruits were organised (stacked) in the jar and became a colorful display. This piece is imbued with history, security and some kind of innate beauty. The 'exhibiting' of natural objects within a gilt frame adds an archival layer.
McDean's latest artwork is, in my view, an exquisite mechanism that speaks to the Victorian era's embrace of death and their overt expression of grief and sorrow. At each end of this totemic chain is a lock ~ at the top there is a small, brass bolt with key that when opened will disengage from the connection, and at the bottom, an oval frame, which contains and protects a length of half-amber, half-golden hair as memento mori (remembrance of death). The overall construct of lock & key, key chain, clasp, oval string of pearls and oval frame/locket is homage to mourning jewelry worn by both sexes in the Victorian era and engages with the distinct binaries: masculine/feminine, open and closed, interior and exterior, form and function, utilitarian/aesthetic, empty/full & life and death. It is a sturdy construct with only one link in the chain that has the potential to be broken and that element is the string of 23 pearls. These pearls reference both Mark's early piece in this project on 7 July and my response on 30 July this year. The real pleasure of this artwork for me is that it is akin to rosary or worry beads that may be held for prayer or meditation and the fact that whilst holding it, the sense of the tactile comes through; important in this virtual age in which absence is prefaced over the immediacy of physical presence and the closeness of touching. A pearl necklace in such close proximity to a lock of hair has sexual overtures as well as allusions to familial intimacy. Significant too, is Mark's use of metal, which in Feng Shui philosophy has always been associated with protection. However, the preciousness we associate with the monetary value of metals is figured here as an esteem associated with life and necessity to protect its fragile and passing beauty.
McDean's latest artwork is, in my view, an exquisite mechanism that speaks to the Victorian era's embrace of death and their overt expression of grief and sorrow. At each end of this totemic chain is a lock ~ at the top there is a small, brass bolt with key that when opened will disengage from the connection, and at the bottom, an oval frame, which contains and protects a length of half-amber, half-golden hair as memento mori (remembrance of death). The overall construct of lock & key, key chain, clasp, oval string of pearls and oval frame/locket is homage to mourning jewelry worn by both sexes in the Victorian era and engages with the distinct binaries: masculine/feminine, open and closed, interior and exterior, form and function, utilitarian/aesthetic, empty/full & life and death. It is a sturdy construct with only one link in the chain that has the potential to be broken and that element is the string of 23 pearls. These pearls reference both Mark's early piece in this project on 7 July and my response on 30 July this year. The real pleasure of this artwork for me is that it is akin to rosary or worry beads that may be held for prayer or meditation and the fact that whilst holding it, the sense of the tactile comes through; important in this virtual age in which absence is prefaced over the immediacy of physical presence and the closeness of touching. A pearl necklace in such close proximity to a lock of hair has sexual overtures as well as allusions to familial intimacy. Significant too, is Mark's use of metal, which in Feng Shui philosophy has always been associated with protection. However, the preciousness we associate with the monetary value of metals is figured here as an esteem associated with life and necessity to protect its fragile and passing beauty.
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