Rebekah Kosonen Bide.
Rebekah Kosonen Bide is an Australian artist based in London. The Goldsmiths Fine Art and History of Art graduate has exhibited her video and sculptural works internationally. She also creates sculptural works as jewellery and objects shown through Café Forgot in New York. The inspiration behind her work comes from questioning and corrupting traditional forms to create something that exists as an immediate relic.
Here, we found out about who she dreams of dressing, what attracts her to historical aspects of her work, and what was her first memorable piece of jewellery.
Perfect: What is the most treasured item of jewellery you own and why does it mean so much to you?
Rebekah Kosonen Bide: It’s a gold name-plate bracelet from my nana, hand engraved with my name. It was given to me when I was born and has a heart-shaped lock that still manages to secure the bracelet around my now-adult wrist — [there is] something about love and belonging.
Perfect: What is your favourite item of jewellery from a motion picture?
RBK: Michelle Pfeiffer as Selina Kyle in Batman Returns has these nail pieces which she transforms into claws for her costume as Catwoman. They were made from corrupted parts of her sewing machine.
Perfect: If you could make a piece of jewellery for anyone in the world, who would it be for and where would they wear it?
RBK: To be honest, I don’t dream of dressing anyone in particular. I like the idea of creating pieces that are sent all over the world and kept in private lives [of their owners] — lives I would otherwise have no access to. I recently made a couple of pearl necklaces with silver name tags to send to a few cats... — on further thought, I think the dream would be to dress Choupette one day.
Perfect: What historical period are you most attracted to and how is it mirrored in your jewellery?
RBK: I’m more attracted to the idea of historicism rather than a particular period, condensing or exposing spaces between past, present and future. I am drawn to pre-industrial periods in areas where there is an emphasis on craft and artist networks, as well as the sentiment that a piece of jewellery holds monetary value equivalent to that of metal or stone.
I first started creating wearable pieces after regularly walking through museums I worked in. I would register objects in rapid succession, from a preserved bog man and the pre-bronze age to the renaissance; from Vikings and Etruscan jewels to the arts and crafts movement; from tokens woven out of hair given from one’s lover to brutalism. [I noticed] how both the value and use of metals developed through time and how everything progressed to this very moment. If I were to create something for someone to wear, I would like it to contain sufficient value for them; I would like them to hold onto that piece for their personal archives as a part of tangible history.
Perfect: What was your first memorable piece of jewellery?
RBK: My mother had a gold, heart-shaped locket she would wear while holding me and I liked playing with it when I was young. She recounts the instance of me biting into it when she was holding me. As high karat gold is so soft, I managed to make a permanent bite mark in the locket with my baby teeth.
