This work was selected for the 2019 ITAMI International Jewellery Exhibition, Museum of Arts and Crafts, Itami, Japan November 16 - December 22, 2019

Along my path; looking at the ground, 2019 Brooch Sterling Silver, 18 carat gold, metal badge, steel washers, metal button, nail | Image: Michelle Bowden, Visuall Photography

The small treasures that form this brooch are a collection of items I found as I walked through the Kiso Valley, Japan, in June 2019. I find the items discarded by my fellow humans fascinating, both for the ​story they may tell and for the longevity of these man-made pieces. As feet pass over pathways, objects are dropped, forgotten but also revealed through cycles of ​rain, erosion and mans' intervention.