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RISD Museum adds brooch by Melanie Bilenker to collection
MELANIE BILENKER .\ Enamel & Diamond RingAnn's Begonia, 2021. Hair on paper, silver, mineral crystal, and stainless steel.
2 3/4 x 3 1/4 x 1/4. Image courtesy Sienna Patti
The Rhode Island School of Design Museum has worked with Sienna Patti to choose a wonderful piece from Melanie Bilenker‘s newest exhibition, HomeWork, for their collection. The acquired brooch, Ann’s Begonias, is a stand-out piece. Made of hair on paper, silver, mineral crystal, and steel, the one of a kind brooch depicts the artist in her kitchen placing a pot of flowers on a counter. Bilenker’s work memorializes the small moments in life wondrously – and this piece is no exception.
From a recent article by Lilah Ramzi in VOGUE magazine:
“Bilenker’s work is not a token for the departed but a depiction of lived intimacy. In her works, she presents moments of domestic life, downsizing them into miniatures or framing them inside lockets. Her pieces feature highly mundane moments—an arm cracks an egg over a skillet, a woman kneels by her bathtub with a scrubbing brush—and scenes evocative of some of the lesser-publicized hours we all live. Bilenker serves as the model, documenting her household activities and then immortalizing them with her own locks. “I enjoy what hair brings to the work—when you’re working with materials that aren’t fresh, they have their own history.”