Lucas Pointon | Effigy Ring

Artist: Lucas Pointon, Wisconsin
Materials: bronze, brass, sterling silver, freshwater pearl, cubic zirconia, paint
Size: 8

Artist Statement: My new series of works is inspired by Medieval reliquaries, containers that traditionally held the relic of a saint. I am interested in the ways that we venerate the dead and living. Within my work, the cast silver American cockroach serves as a modern surrogate for a relic. We are living in a time of cheap manufactured goods and a love for new things that quickly become trash, and in our hypocrisy, we destroy the environment and label creatures such as cockroaches as dirty and detestable. In fact, they are considered the garbage collectors of terrestrial ecosystems and participate in the recycling of human waste. My reliquary jewelry illuminates these once living detritivores and, I hope, directs the viewers’ moral compass in waste management and environmental protection.
My art jewelry is, in essence, venerating the breakdown of the natural recycling process by hosting the cockroach ironically in a suspended state (cast in silver) -- an agent of recycling unable to be recycled by other cockroaches. This becomes a beautiful metaphor for the “king of trash” to serve as a symbol of our human folly and remind us of what is precious about our temporality.

Artist Bio: My new series of works is inspired by Medieval reliquaries, containers that hold the relic of a saint. I am interested in the ways we venerate the dead and living, and within my work, the American cockroach serves as our modern surrogate. Living in a time of cheap manufactured goods and a love for “trash,” cockroaches, are considered the garbage collectors of terrestrial ecosystems. My reliquary jewelry illuminates these once living detritivores and, I hope, directs the viewers’ moral compass in waste management and environmental protection. My art jewelry is in essence venerating the breaking of the natural re-cycle by hosting the cockroach ironically; an agent of recycling halted from itself being recycled by yet other cockroaches. This becomes a beautiful stand in for the inability for the “king of trash” of our time, plastics, from being recycled and therefore accumulating in the natural world.

This ring was part of Battle of the Rings: Ring Smackdown 2024, an online exhibition and competition. View the entire collection HERE, view the matches HERE, and learn more HERE.