“1.How can jewellery and metalwork be used to express the anxiety of young individuals nowadays?

2.What role can contemporary jewellery play in reflecting issues about anxiety in young people?

3.How do I tell stories, create empathy and communicate with the audience through my work?”

Yutong Lu uses contemporary jewellery in dialogue with its audience to explore the impact of anxiety on body organs, from two aspects: as the jewellery is seen and as it is worn. Anxiety: Aggression and Resistance is a brooch which can be worn in two ways. One side represents ‘resistance’ with shield-like metal lungs a metaphor for combat and struggle against anxiety. On the other side, the hollowed out metal, filled with ‘anxiety viruses’ evidences the erosion caused by anxiety representing the concept of ‘aggression’.

Both sides belong to one single work as ‘resistance’ and ‘aggression’ blend and repel. It is a complex of contradictions, telling different stories to the audience – viewer and wearer. The whole brooch weighs about 600g, and the tactile heaviness brought by metalwork makes people feel the weight of anxiety when wearing it. In addition, the organza and wool felt ‘anxiety viruses’ enhances the visual sense of suffocation.

The symbolism of this series is greater than practicability. Lu wants to communicate with the audience through the language of jewellery, letting them reflect, realize the meaning behind the story and take action.