Mother of Pearl:has been put to work

In pearl farms today, freshwater mussels are put to work. Foreign tissue irritates the fleshy mantle of the mussel and incites the creature to release nacre – liquid mother of pearl.

This magical iridescent substance, coats the irritant continuously until it sets and hardens to form a pearl. This practice exploits the mussel's natural immune system and the resulting pearl can be considered to be a beautiful type of scar tissue - evidence of survival.

I have produced a body of work with this in mind and liken the mollusc to systems, cultural behaviours or assumptions relating to the feminine. The work attempts to question the historical associations of the pearl with femininity as well as the commodification of various natural substances, female sexuality and reproduction.