CWaB: Lien #18 Necklace

Bio

Teresa Faris is Professor and Area Head of the Metals program at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater where she received the Women in Leadership Award. Teresa is co-author of the Women of Metal Exhibition and Oral History Project, and is the recipient awards including: National Endowment for the Arts 2008 Grant Award: Access to Artistic Excellence. Teresa participated in the Artist in Residence program at John Michael Kohler Arts Center, WI (1999).  And, she exhibits extensively in Europe and the US.

Artist Statement:

In the English language the word Lien is defined as a debt, birthright or spleen. This word is also the surname given to my great-grandmother.

To assimilate is to assume that one has a profound understanding and has become similar to the those around them. Inherited genetics, trauma and knowledge is resistant to assimilation and feels like a vibration in the body while it works its way to the surface.

The choice to conceal and assimilate was made by my family three generations ago in order to escape genocide caused by religious misconceptions. This series of work addresses my desire to understand the overwhelming idea of birthright and the debts we must pay with our body and mind in order to fit in and survive.

Superstition is called upon when fear of the unknown is present. Animals and animal imagery have been used throughout history to offer hope, order and alarm to unsettled humans.  These generations-old beliefs are impenetrable and often left unchallenged.  I am interested in discovering the root of these habitual beliefs and challenging the way they dictate they ways in which I respond to the world around me. The objects are reminiscent of traditional jewelry rooted deeply in beliefs of folklore and superstition, through each cut and soldered piece I am moving closer to my truth.