The western world can be defined by the adage ‘knowledge is power’. Society has become dependent on science and technology, particularly in medicine, to the body’s natural course of deterioration. While developments have resulted in new forms of healing, when illness or disease permeates our lives, all these medical advancements become seemingly incomplete. Even with volumes of information, the most primal of questions, such as why?, are too complicated and unanswerable even for science. Although such situations are outrightly defined by a state of confusion, eventually a new form of understanding can arise, one that is marked with an incredible reverence for the human body and spirit.

This brooch features a hand fabricated silver housing containing a “gem” created from numerous pages of laminated medical text. This represents the significance of information, but also the inherent inability for science to ever be able to answer certain questions, particularly when it comes to illness. The design references a badge of honor, acknowledging that, whether a visible or invisible illness, be it physiological or physiological, the ability to be vulnerable deserves recognition.