FRAGILITY
Brenda Schweder
United States

People tip-toe around fragility like it’s a brittle, frail state of weakness that seeps from the outer skin of a thing and travels through and through to the core. But they don’t stop to look beneath the outer edges to what lie below. There may be a strength, resiliency, or a burning desire covered over by a camouflage of vulnerability. We must peer past the outer visages of what appears as delicacy at first onset, and work to understand what could be an underbelly of great and deep fortitude.

Brooch/Wall Piece « [One More] Homage to Cornell », 2025
240 x 100 x 64 mm / 145 gr
Found objects
Pierced, assembled, stapled, formed/forged, wrapped/knotted

More « FRAGILITY »

Fragility – Einav Benzano / France

FRAGILITYEinav BenzanoFranceThis project contemplates HOME as a fragile talisman — a place that shelters and soothes, yet trembles with vulnerability and uncertainty. The pieces are made from mop floorcloth, a material that unravels thread by thread when touched. To...

Fragility – Daye Kim / UK

FRAGILITYDaye KimUnited KingdomSibling relationships exist at the fragile intersection of intimacy and distance. Derived from sib (kinship) and sibja (blood + "one's own"), "sibling" embodies a paradox: they are extensions of ourselves yet wholly separate. This...

Fragility – Luisa Mucedola / Italy

FRAGILITYLuisa MucedolaItalyThrough tempered glass – strong yet vulnerable – I explore the human condition, its balance between resistance and dissolution.In each crack and fragment, I find the truth of living: strength born from limits, beauty emerging when...

Fragility – Yael Ouliel / Israel

FRAGILITYYael OulielIsraelThe union of rusted iron and 18-karat gold reveals fragility as a fundamental dimension of matter and existence. The iron, slowly eroded by rust, bears witness to vulnerability and transience, while the gold remains intact, its value unveiled...

Fragility – Rikke Lunnemann / Denmark

FRAGILITYRikke LunnemannDenmarkHow Much Care Do You Need Today? A five-meter-long bandage gilded with 24ct gold leaf. You can cut into it – a small piece if you need a little, a larger one if the day hurts. It is jewellery, but it refuses to be just jewellery. It...

Fragility – Yuqi Fan / USA

FRAGILITYYuqi FanUnited StatesTo me, “Fragility” emerges in the dynamics of attachment, the way we rely on objects to express ourselves, cherish lost ones, and soothe insecurities. Through jewelry and wearable objects, I explore how these attachments reveal the...

Fragility – Yifan Peng / Belgium

FRAGILITYYifan PengBelgiumThis series is inspired by the structure of cicada wings and focuses on the contrast between fragility and strength. I am interested in how light, material, and form can reveal both stability and vulnerability at the same time. I use smoke to...

Fragility – Barbara Schwager / Switzerland

FRAGILITY Barbara SchwagerSwitzerlandFragile 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...

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 – Noa Yankovitch / Israel

FRAGILITYNoa YankovitchIsraelMy work examines the tension between closeness and distance, the fragile space where connection and separation coexist. I'm interested in how intimacy changes shape when it’s tested: when presence becomes absence, when touch turns into...