Dandelion brooch

2017

Material: sterling silver, copper, silicone, silk thread, acrylic laquer, patina, stainless steel

A story about connections and identity

The parachutes of the dandelion brooch can be separated from the seedpod that serves as a base, and can be worn as individual, smaller brooches. The owner of the big brooch can either keep them and change the dandelion's appearance from time to time – the flexible silicone inside the brooch’s body makes it possible to put the seeds back to their place safely after they were pulled out – or they can be given as a gift to loved ones. This way the parachutes can do exactly what normal dandelion seeds would do – they travel, relocate, and start a new life on their own. This connects the wearers of the brooches – wherever the parachutes travel by the wind, one will always know they came from a bigger whole, a dandelion clock. With time, they gain their own identity - they are not part of the protective crowd of identical copies anymore.

It’s a great honour that this piece was selected to the 2018 edition of European Prize of Applied Arts, and was exhibited alongside the works on many amazing artists in Mons, Belgium. The exhibition in 2019 travelled to the Kilkenny Castle, Ireland.

Photographer: János Fejér