Bacchanal. 2017. Acrylic, Resin, Newspaper clippings, sterling silver. 

Bacchanal n.

 1. A wild party or fete

2. Scandal; uproar over immoral behaviour. 

Bacchanal is a pair of earrings tackling the reality of the correlation between Carnival and sexual violence. Bacchanal is synonymous with both scandal and party. It is made of cheaper materials such as resin and acrylic, adopting the carnivalesque fashion of disposable costuming and pure colour. The acrylic structure of the earrings take the form of two stylised fashion-jewellery crosses. Laid on top of these shapes are words from Trinidadian newspaper headlines cut out from articles that appeared the week of carnival. One reads “Schoolgirl Abducted, Gang Raped” and the other, “To Serve 20 Years Jail For Raping Girl”; each word individually cast and faceted in red resin to echo a ransom note. Earrings are arguably the most decorative category of jewellery, with rings and necklaces having symbolic breeds like the wedding ring or a medal of honour. Earrings are made to adorn and to draw the gaze. Bacchanal uses this superficiality and as well as the shape of the cross to mock the idea of violence as a spectacle. Carnival and violence are now one and the same, and now another expected “spectacle”.

Photography by Rob Chron