ancient egypt. adorn.

Ancient Egyptians were really into body adornment and ornamentation. It was much more of a holistic fashion than strictly a form of decoration, however. Their body decoration was obviously beautiful but also had a spiritual relevance. Their impulse to wear decorative ornamentation was based on the idea that this ornamentation was a form of spiritual protection. They exemplified this idea of a spiritual connection through ornate jewelry designs, amulet pieces, headdresses, and tattoos.
I’ve decided to focus on this aspect of the Ancient Egyptian culture for my historical research project in my special topics class. I think that this idea of a spiritual connection and relationship providing a feeling of protection for the user/wearer is extremely powerful. I love the idea of a communicative piece between the owner and his or her idea of the divine.
Ancient Egyptian ornamentation was worn daily as a reminder of this protection their spiritual counterparts provided, but also was an important part of what to wear in the afterlife. The burial processes of ancient Egyptians was elaborate to say the least, and each mummified individual was decked out in ornate decorative jewelry and tattoos. These designs that portrayed the symbolic imagery of protection and rejuvenation were seen as essential elements for the deceased to have when entering the life that existed after death.
In all, it is extremely interesting to me to discover this aspect of ancient Egyptian ideas of what to decorate the body with and reasons why to decorate the body with these things. I have this idea to create a piece using colorful enamel (referencing the colors that symbolized spiritual protection and life) that can be placed on the body as somewhat of a second skin (referencing the imagery of hand drawn tattoos) that acts as a protective decoration for the body. I hope to abstract the symbolic imagery used during the time to create a patterned, geometric design through drawing with graphite pencil on matte-finished enamel that presents this idea of protection through decoration.