The Procession by Luci Jockel and MJ Tyson

The Procession presents a parallel exploration of the impermanence and preservation of material remains by MJ Tyson and Luci Jockel. Through these works both artists consider cycles of destruction and decay. The first seeds of this conversation were planted in 2015 when Tyson and Jockel, who share a background in jewelry and metalsmithing, crossed paths at Rhode Island School of Design. This exhibition traces the results of the following years’ inquiry.

About Luci Jockel:

Luci Jockel is a jewelry artist and Lecturer/Coordinator for the Metalsmithing and Jewelry program at Towson University. She received her MFA from Rhode Island School of Design in Jewelry and Metalsmithing in 2016, and her BFA in Studio Art from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2014. Luci has recently been honored with the 2019 American Craft Council Emerging Voices Award. Her work has been shown at various venues including ACC Conference 2019, Schmuck Munich Jewellery Fair, SNAG Conference, and Galerie Marzee. She has been featured in publications such as “New Brooches”, Metalsmith Magazine, and American Craft Magazine. Luci maintains a studio practice as part of the JV Collective in Philadelphia.

“Jewelry has a history of holding the power of sentimentality, remembrance, and ritual. I seek to honor the loss of animal beings and suture our severed relationship to them through contemporary jewelry relics. Can a tangible experience with animal remains mend the lost connection between humans and nonhumans? My work is motivated by the understanding that society is approaching the next mass extinction of our nonhuman counterparts. Within this contemporary context, my work is grounded in the ideas of Victorian mourning rituals, memento mori, and historical relics.”

About MJ Tyson:

MJ Tyson is an artist based in Hoboken, New Jersey. Tyson’s work is centered on the relationship between people and their possessions. Interests in value and material culture have led her to draw from the worlds of art appraisal and museum conservation. Tyson received her BFA from the Jewelry + Metalsmithing Department at Rhode Island School of Design in 2008 and returned to earn her MFA in 2017.  She has been an artist in residence at the Studios at Mass MoCA, Vermont Studio Center, and The Wormfarm Institute. Recent exhibitions include Non-Stick Nostalgia: Y2K Retrofuturism in Contemporary Jewelry at Museum of Arts and Design and 40 Under 40: The Next Generation of American Metal Artists at the Metal Museum.

“All material carries a past, and whether we acknowledge this lineage or not, it exists. It may be to our advantage — as a way of orienting ourselves in our world — to consider the cycles of creation and destruction intrinsic to the objects and materials that surround us. Considering such cycles, I have found that the significance of jewelry
lies not only in its relationship to the body, but also in its role in our lives as a physical marker of abstract ideas, such as lineage, legacy, and favor.”