New Zealand artist Lisa Walker has made a career out of transforming slightly odd materials into wearable objects. Like a home crafter turned feral, she is involved in a kind of aesthetic high-wire act, teetering on the edge of good taste. In this brooch, strange plastic fruit or vegetables – are they some kind of heirloom tomato? – combine with feathers, silver, and lacquer. It’s playful, it’s soft, it’s individual – it’s a challenge that comes in the form of the most unassuming and unexpected materials. Walker is a graduate of the Munich Academy of Fine Arts, and she was the winner of the Francoise van den Bosch prize in 2010. Her work is represented in public and private collections in the United States, Europe, and Australasia, including the Schmuckmuseum in Pforzheim, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, and the Deedie Rose collection in Dallas.
Lisa Walker
BROOCH
2008
plastic, feather, silver, and lack
4 1/2 x 3 1/8 x 4 inches