Mama Gapoo
In my local cultural context, even in recent decades, women have been deprived of fundamental social status and decision-making power. This is also extended to their daily life within the household. Traditionally their roles were simply to raise children and do household chores. Paradoxically, using large-sized golden embellishments was common among them. The paradox arises as if they traded their fundamental rights with some precious metals.
The semicircular or crescent shape of those traditional golden necklaces inspires the necklaces in this collection. I used a combination of ceramics, casting and welding brass, and welded coins. My deliberate choice of these non-precious materials aims to call out the actual value of gold for those women in a society that deprived them of their inherent human values. “Mama Gapoo”, meaning grandmother in my local dialect, is the name that I called my grandmother by. I named this collection after her, as a tribute to all the hardness she endured throughout her life.
“Mama Gapoo”, meaning grandmother in my local dialect, is the name that I called my grandmother by. I named this collection after her, as a tribute to all the hardness she endured throughout her life.
