Loukia Richards

'A Tiara Of Smileys  (For The Foreign

Minister of the US)'

Greece, 2010

Tiara

Materials:

Textile, silk and cotton threads. (Polyester

textile was also used for the doll's suit). Fire

for altering substance.

Techniques:

Sewing, weaving, embroidery and burning

Dimension in cm:

7.5 x 8 x 0.5,  Doll/effigy: 40 x 17 x 11

Artist Statement:

Since 'I Care A Lot' guidelines have not

defined whether the competition is about

human or doll jewelry (or both), I decided

to make jewelry for a doll or effigy modelled

after the US Foreign Minister, Ms. Hillary

Clinton. The effigies burned during street

protests in the ME have made a strong

impression on me. These effigies the

protesters use to symbolically destroy their

enemies, were the raw material of my idea.

I have chosen the State Department

Secretary as my model, since USA is a

major player in the various 'peace' or

'conflict management' negotiations in the

Middle East from Cyprus to Israel-

Palestine, Iraq, the Kurdish issue etc. It is a

truism that nothing would move in the ME

peace process (-es) without US consent.

Sometimes, I have the impression the ME

peace process (-es) is like a game played

with puppets, where humanity and dignity

are of no value. 'Ms. Clinton', the effigy or

doll, wears a 'Tiara of Smileys' because

USA is queen in the region. The tiara is

also meant as a tribute to the -- indeed

admirable -- endless American optimism.

The tiara reminds of Mickey Mouse ears;

carefree cartoons are very prominent in the

US culture. Finally, I burned part of the

effigy and the tiara as an homage to the

street protests, the frustration expressed

and the need to destroy.

What was your starting point or your

inspiration for doing this project?

I decided to approach the jewelry-for-the-

ME-question starting from the end.

My hypothesis: Let's say I have the jewelry

piece that illustrates my point: 'Great

powers play irresponsible games with

peace, life and dignity and people have a

problem with that and react', who would I

want to wear it, to enforce my art

statement? How would I style it for

shooting it in the studio? I treat jewelry as a

'total art concept' - concept, design, chosen

materials, dimensions, execution, styling,

environment, wearer etc. are all part of the

idea. I would love Ms. Clinton to wear my

jewelry. I asked myself: if she were to

mediate/negotiate peace talks between

various conflicting parts in the ME what

jewelry would she wear as a non verbal

statement? I sketched the tiara on paper for

the reasons I mention above. Since I would

not get Ms. Clinton to wear my 'Tiara of

Smileys' (or would I?) I thought of

modelling a doll after her plus a tiny tiara.

By wearing the tiara during negotiations,

she would show to the conflicting parts her

'posititive attitude for resolving the

problem', her 'immeasurable optimism' as

well as her non-understanding of the

serious problems in the ME that obviously

need a new attitude to resolve. While I was

working on the doll, I thought of the

effigies and decided to let the local popular

political culture lead my hand.

Do you have a personal (or other)

connection to the exhibition’s theme?

I live in Greece; hellenic culture and

Christian Greek orthodox communities

have always been prominent in the ME

region; as a citizen and artist the ME peace

topic does not leave me indifferent; after all,

ME is my extended neighborhood; I Care A

Lot about questions of history, justice and

peace.

What were the main reasons for choosing

the materials, shapes or technique in your

work?

In all cultures textile is understood as a

material close to life; it is a symbol of life,

indeed; it is a flexible but also very fragile

material like skin; I made the doll/effigy in

various pieces, then sewn them together, to

show human fragility but also to deprive the

State Department Secretary of her

humanity, to turn her into an agent of a

certain policy or directives. I modeled her

lila colored suit after the outfit she wore

when she met Greek Prime Minister to talk

about the collapse of Greek economy last

week. Her shoes are green -- a holy color of

Islam -- to show ignorance of cultural

sensitivities. The doll became too pretty and

I decided to put it on fire, to add the aspect

of outrage, violence, catharsis.

What kind of feeling you wish the viewers

will get from your work?

Sarcasm for the US ability to endorse,

mediate, negotiate, implement peace in the

ME region -- up to now.

If you could give your Jewelry to an

important figure in the Middle East who

will he/she be? and why?

Israeli film maker Eran Riklis. I loved his

movie 'Volcano Junction' (1999) on a music

band about to launch their first LP on the

eve of Yom Kippur war. The movie

questioned concepts like fatherland,

identity, betrayal, friendship and the power

of music to unite or divide; and believe me,

the answers it suggested were not too easy

to swallow.

Personal information:

personal website:

www.myprecious.gr -->designers-->

Loukia Richards  and/or   Google: Crafts

Council UK--->Selected Makers--->Loukia

Richards (huge link, it is better to do it that

way.

artist links:

Facebook Page: LoukiaRichardsJewellery

Browsing:

klimt02, nzz.ch (neue zuercher zeitung--on

line), resartis, craftscouncil.org,

facebook.com, wikipedia, cooperhewitt.org

Inspiring artists:

Johannes Vermeer, El Greco, Jenny

Holzer, Marc Rothko, August Sander,

Sheila Hicks, Andrej Rublev, Praxiteles etc.

Top 3 materials:

textile, paper, canvas

If I wasn’t an artist what profession would I

choose?

A zoologist

My dream is

Love wins (like in Faust's famous last

verse...)