Artist Statement

The Attachment of Fear 

A phobia is an "irrational, intense, persistent fear of certain situations, 

activities, things, or people."

My collection of sculptural jewelry explores some of the ordinary objects and insects commonly associated with phobic behaviors while suggesting the characteristics that may provoke the strongest sensations of each of them. A paradox between the beautiful and the creepy is also explored and further extended when inner anxieties are presented as body adornment. Whether it be a gigantic spider on your shoulder or a head piece of branches masking one from the outside world, these fears are shown dramatically attaching themselves to the body both physically and psychologically. For my collection I chose to represent three phobias: Dendrophobia, or the fear of trees, Entomophobia or the fear of insects (particularly flying insects) and the most common phobia, Arachnophobia, the fear of spiders. The evolutionary development of the human psyche can account for many of the fears that terrorize mankind. Humans have learned through time to fear anything with more than two legs, therefore the many legs of a spider or the spine crawling feeling of those legs creeping up your body are innately terrifying. I selected aspects of a spider along with aspects of the other selected phobias and exaggerated them just as the human responses to the fears are themselves an exaggeration. The legs of a spider, along with the wounds of a tree, or the wings of a cicada are represented on the body both literally and conceptually through their feeling, texture, color, and sound. These interactive works made of precious metals and gemstones are attaching themselves to the very bodies that instinctively fear them. 

The Attachment of Fear is Carrie Bilbo's 2009 Senior Thesis  Collection from Pratt Institute.