2018 Catalogue Archive

American artist Raïssa Bump’s Inside Out #2 is just as the title promises: the back of the brooch, which is an abstract pattern of knotted threads, has become the front; and the scalloped edges and quilted pattern of red and black glass beads stitched into place by the threads, is made into the back with the addition of a large brooch pin. The reversal upends the expectation that one side is for show and the other should be kept out of sight. It also puts on display the technical underpinnings of the work, and the labor that goes into its production. And maybe it is also an insider’s joke, since wearable artists often follow the maxim that the back should be as aesthetic and well-made as the front, even though no-one sees it other than the wearer. Raïssa Bump is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design; she also studied jewelry with Giampaolo Babetto at Alchimia in Florence, Italy. Her work is represented in private collections around the United States.