Throughout history jewellery has been used to enhance the potency of the wearer. Its function was to adorn the body, proclaim prestige, and provide easy portability of wealth. Throughout the ages beauty, prestige and wealth have been sought and when gained, celebrated with gifts of jewellery.
Today with grunge fashion, the media defining VIPs and plastic cards the ultimate in portable wealth, you'd think jewellery would be passé. Thankfully artists like Townsend don't, instead they take jewellery forward into the new millennium as another means of communicating. The rings on display here are delicate in design yet have a certain potency of their own. They are for men or women, can stand on their own as works of art, yet easily become part of our body when worn by emulating our hand movements.
Instead of a single band intended to decorate a digit or catch the eye, many of Townsend's pieces consist of two or more rings for either one or more fingers. For example Mirrored 1 is a single piece of jewellery consisting of four rings worn on four fingers. Three bridges connecting the circlets support thin prongs that arch over the fingers to their tips. The whole construction reminds us that the hand is a tool that can be used for feeding, fighting or getting what we want. These rings are certainly not for the feint hearted as they put attitude right out there. Those of you who punctuate your conversation with your hands will find this jewellery adds a whole new inflection to your speech.
The artist has also considered the less exuberant, those who prefer an understated elegance. She has fashioned rings that allow you to hold their sculpted beauty in the palm of your hand. It's up to you to reveal your treasure when and to whom you please. Hidden and Secret are two beautiful examples of this concept that lets you to set your own level of adornment.
Other pieces consist of two or three segments designed for wearing on one finger. These have articulated connecting rods that allow the wearer to freely bend the finger. In this form the jewellery echoes the structure of the finger that wears it via rods (bones), hinges (joints) and bands (flesh). This adds a new dimension to the idea of jewellery, it can echo and explain.
Townsend manipulates gold, silver and anodized aluminium (sometimes coloured) with precision and economy of line. Her jewellery is very modern yet she does not disregard the tradition that supports her creative efforts. One has to appreciate the step forward she is taking in modern jewellery as an artform.