FRAGILITY

Barbara Schwager
Switzerland

Fragile Moods
Moods come and go. They are subject to fluctuations and external influences. We cannot always control them in our favour—in other words, “just be happy.” Only we ourselves know how we feel—and often we have to present a different, socially acceptable version of ourselves to the outside world. We cannot simply live out our moods.

This brooch turns our inner feelings inside out. Recognizing and accepting our own changeability, even playing with it and perhaps engaging in a dialogue with those around us about our own true feelings.

Brooch « Fragile Moods », 2025
60x59x6 mm / 28 gr
Mild and stainless steel, Stone paper, polypropylene, Hematin, Poly n thread, copper, silver tubes
Sawing, filing, piercing, folding (copper, stone paper, polypropylene)

More « FRAGILITY »

Fragility – Sareh Zarghampour / Belgium

FRAGILITYSareh ZarghampourBelgiumWe give pain meaning through the moments we live with it. I explore pain not merely as a physical reaction, but as an emotional, internal state something deeply tied to human fragility. Pain is a personal and often invisible...

Fragility – Alissa Goble / USA

FRAGILITYAlissa GobleUnited StatesObjects have a way of holding stories, carrying traces of memory, family, and identity. I’m drawn to the quiet power of the things we keep close and how they connect us to the past. Through crochet and metalsmithing, I use making as a...

Fragility – Into Niilo / Belgium

FRAGILITYInto NiiloBelgiumThis work consists of a pair of interlocking knuckledusters that form a single solid object when pressed together. When separated, the phrase I wanna choose love | instead of fear becomes legible. The object is a 3D-printed steel puzzle...

Fragility – Henrike Altes / Germany

FRAGILITYHenrike AltesGermanyBreathing Lungs. Such a strong organ, with such fragile structures. In some situations, I find it difficult to breathe or my breathing is very fast. It is directly linked to how I feel. In the same way, a deep breath can calm me down....

Fragility – Agne Zaltauskaite / Lithuania

FRAGILITYAgne ZaltauskaiteLithuaniaIn my practice, I explore the hole as a metaphor for the unknown — a fragile space where certainty dissolves. To be within the unknown is to be exposed, vulnerable, and open to transformation.Not knowing, doubting, being uncertain —...

Fragility – Yasuko Kanno / Japan

FRAGILITYYasuko KannoJapanEven the most perfectly formed creation will one day perish. Glass and ceramics will shatter, metal will rust, and every living being will eventually face death. Although it often happens unexpectedly, in reality, it is predetermined from the...

Fragility – Noy Alon / Israel

FRAGILITYNoy AlonIsraelA brooch built from ready-made pins soldered together, covered in polymer and transformed into something unexpectedly delicate. Systematically eroded, the piece reveals a paradox: structural strength that appears light and fragile. The erosion...

Fragility – Youjin Um / South Korea

FRAGILITYYoujin UmSouth KoreaIn the daily life of the beginning and the repetition, I take the center of my mind and begin to walk on the map I drew. A lot of steps that sometimes went straight along the mind map to work or recharge, and then back again. Create...

Fragility – Deniz Turan / UK

FRAGILITYDeniz TuranUnited Kingdom“To escape and break free, because we dream of a freer life, to grant ourselves a second chance, to leave the past behind or simply because life flows that way… Whatever the reason may be, alongside all other possibilities, migration...

Fragility – Carmen Lopez / Spain

FRAGILITYCarmen LopezSpainMy weak point is the spoon, my creative vulnerability. Sometimes I want to escape it, but it assaults my mind, invades my notebooks, my house: metal, wood, enamel, glass. With its docility, it doesn't force me to do anything—I am just an...