Rebecca Strzelec USA
Poem: Prima flashes/Secunda hopes/Tertia interrupts trio of brooches
Piece created for Challenge 2022 Jewelry and Literature
Materials vinyl lawn chair webbing, found medal ribbon, doll eyelashes, thread
Size 268x57x6,5mm (Prima) | 229x57x6,5mm (Secunda) | 197x57x6,5 (Tertia)
Eighteen years ago, Rebecca Strzelec completed “The Shorthand Series” - twelve brooches that took their form language directly from Gregg Shorthand - a stenography language established in 1888. During the development of that series Strzelec borrowed a 1942 copy of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland” written in Gregg Shorthand by Georgie Gregg Gingell from Penn State University’s library. While the book captivated Strzelec she didn’t pull on its graceful looping figures until now.
Strzelec’s response feels like falling down the rabbit hole with Alice as she excerpts poignant phrases in Gregg Shorthand to inspire a trio of sister brooches and two neckpieces.
