The habits of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and the practice of the goldsmith are strikingly similar: Both engage in repeated, ritualized activity ad infinitum, both are obsessed with notions of control and with miniscule details. The only difference is that the former is characterized as a disorder while the latter is seen as a certain temperament beneficial to the goldsmith.

This work physically manifests the habits and symptoms of OCD and makes evident what the hallmarks of OCD and the nature of goldsmithing are: obsessively detailed, repetitive activities on a minute scale. I use the traditional jewelry forms and visual vocabulary of the goldsmith, but in such profusion that their original functions are lost and they become an exploration of mania. Through a strategy of exaggeration this work manifests the characteristics of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in material form. My intention is to positively reframe perceptions of OCD characteristics by recognizing its inevitability in the skills of the goldsmith, and many highly valued cultural practices.

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