Do It Anyway

2018
Gold and diamond shirt button

This shirt button is made from my mother's wedding ring. My parents divorced when I was in 7th grade. While growing into adulthood and navigating my own relationships, I think about how often we are unsure but forge ahead anyway, folding in partners and children into a reckless situation.

Looking at my parent's divorce, and specifically the selfish acts of my father as he attempted to understand the root of his needs and desires, I question the encouragement in the mantra of 'follow your heart' and why our society romanticizes the bravery of burning others in the pursuit of our truth. In a similar fashion, this button takes a valuable and sentimental object and minimizes it to something that could easily be lost. As I wear this irreplaceable button, does it make me look reckless or brave?

Thanks Mom for being a great sport, and special thanks to Judy O'Donnell, the staff instructor at the Lincoln Park Cultural Center.