In her current show at Gallery 78, Kristianne LeBreton has demonstrated a remarkable amount of skill and dedication to her craft. Each piece has been well thought out and precisely executed. There was a very high contrast within the show. Kristianne uses many different textures among her works, as well as differently coloured materials. As a whole this show is very strong and Kristianne should be very proud of her work.
Among her show there is a series of pendants made from mixed metals and found objects. These have been titled the fallen angel series, consisting of nine beautiful pendants that tell a tragic story of lost innocence and heartbreak.
Although the first pendant in the series was not displayed in the gallery, I would be willing to bet it is be a silver wing, untarnished, beautiful in its perfection, just like an angel. This would have symbolized innocence, the same innocence that is broken in the second pendant of the series. It is a simple sterling silver wing with a rusted old nail piercing through it. The simple polished silver has such a beautiful contrast to the nail and all of the texture created by rust and age.
This is where the visually told story begins for us. It shows the pure angel being stung by something that has already become corroded itself. From there all innocence is lost as the series continues with the wing becoming tarnished as it remains with the nail beside it. Fallen angel 4 is three feathers, one made of copper, one of silver and one of gold. Embedded in each of these is a bullet. I saw this as symbolizing a loss of innocence from the angel. This innocence was not just lost but taken by the one who stung the angel and began the fall.
The next couple pendants both use feathers, bullets and bullet casings to tell their part of the story. Showing the one who stung the angel with bullet casings and bullets shaped to mimic how they would be held in a revolver. We can see that he is the one who will destroy innocence and break the tainted angels heart so it will never be the same.
To finish this tragic story Kristianne uses old skeleton keys and copper hearts. The pendants show the heart with its key. One the heart has an open wound from the stinger. The next shows us how the heart was still being held captive as it holds onto its key. The final pendant completes the story. It shows a copper heart that has been patched up. It clutches its key to its side, unwilling to let it go. It has learned that you cannot always trust people with your heart and you have to choose carefully otherwise it’ll be a repeat of this tragic story.
Kristianne was able to tell a whole story through her series of pendants. It was amazing that she was able to do such a thing. It was very successful work she did. Each pendant can stand on its own as a work in and of itself but it’s a part of something bigger. Each pendant shows such a contrast between the new materials and the old or violently used objects in itself. It manages to conjure up some sort of natural reaction to them making them that more beautiful.
