Family+Reunion,+The

Date: 2012
 * [[image:http://ids.si.edu/ids/deliveryService?id=http://americanart.si.edu/images/2014/2014.45_1a.jpg&max=460 width="295" height="281" link="@http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=86771"]] || Title: **The Family Reunion**

Artist: **Nancy Lee Worden** Born: Boston, Massachusetts 1954

Medium: 14k gold and sterling silver plating, copper, brass mesh, onyx, acrylic, and resin with cast photographs and scorpions Dimensions: 26 1/2 × 3 1/2 × 1/2 in. (67.3 × 8.9 × 1.3 cm) Smithsonian American Art Museum Museum purchase through the Richard T. Evans Fund and gift of Clemmer Montague © 2012, Nancy Lee Worden

Accession: 2014.45 || //The Family Reunion// is a necklace comprised of gold-plated silver, brass, onyx, scorpions cast in acrylic, and vintage photographs. A specific incident spurred Worden to make the piece, which served as an outlet for the artist to reframe something that had irritated her. Worden stated in an interview “This is not the first time I’ve used my work to try to make myself laugh about something that made me mad” (Art Jewelry Forum).
 * About the Artwork: **

The photographs, intended to be archetypes, came from Grandmother Worden’s estate. On the back of the images are narratives similar to the remarks the artist’s Grandmother Clark made regarding people in her family.

Specimens like the scorpions indicate a mood for interpreting the photographs. Jewelry by René Lalique, who used graceful curves and referenced nature, inspired Worden’s practice. Lalique referenced the beauty as well as the sinister aspects of nature.

Worden utilizes numerous materials and designs to create her jewelry. In particular, Native American, Art Nouveau, Egyptian broadcollars, and African amulets inform Worden’s pieces, which also incorporate female and American interests.
 * About the Artist: **

Nancy Worden Blog Article on Art Jewelry Forum Nancy Worden Wikipedia Entry Rene Laligue Website Rene Lalique Wikipedia Entry SAAM Collections Page Society of North American Goldsmiths
 * Links: **