Nanette Pengelley is a queer, Jamaican-American capricorn and metalsmith from south Florida. She went on to study in Quito, Boston, and Florence. After graduating from Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 2015 with her BFA in Jewelry and Metalsmithing, Nanette has been exploring her practice within her brand, Hew Jewelry. She currently lives in Durham, North Carolina, and spends summers teaching in New England.
Nanette Pengelley*
she/her
“My work is shaped by the materials I am attracted to, and I often find myself captivated by an object simply because of my encounter with it. Whether that object be found on the street, meticulously crafted by my own two hands, or grown in nature, I find that experience can be carried forward by the wearer, through the act of making something beautiful out of the unconventional.”
*Juror’s Choice
Our jurors for [queerphoria] vol. 2: Adorned Serenity each chose an artist’s work that they wanted to highlight from the exhibition.
“My juror's choice is Nanette Pengelley's piece, ‘I am my own safe space.’ It is a customisable multi- sensory experience that holds a profound interplay between personal empowerment and community responsibility. The intricately thought out music box mechanism transforms the piece from adornment to a vessel that can transport the wearer to a place where they feel truly seen and safe.
Her exploration of community safety adds another layer to her work. As she engages with the communities that surround her as a queer/black/woman, she not only gathers insights, but also uses shared experiences to inform her work. Her process becomes a dynamic force, weaving together the diverse threads of her communities’ stories. In Pengelley’s piece, something beautiful emerges at the intersection of creativity and community responsibility. It acknowledges that our expressions can transcend individuality and can be a powerful conduit for our collective safety, and presents tools for our collective liberation.”
"I am my own safe space.
I make it, I embody it, I carry it with me.
I surround myself with it, drape it over myself like my favorite blanket, hear it in my headphones, feel it with my fingertips.
My safe space is tactile, it lives in my senses— in how I experience the world.
This was a difficult prompt. I spent weeks just turning it over, discussing it with friends and family— members of this intersectional community that surrounds me as a queer/ black/ woman. I started by working backward— what makes you feel UNsafe in a space? This question yielded a wide range of responses, varying depending on each person’s specific identity. My trans friends felt threatened by visibility in cis spaces, my black friends felt alienated by criticism in predominantly white spaces, my queer friends felt vulnerable by a lack of support in heteronormative spaces—- the line I was able to draw between each experience, and then through my own, appeared when I finally asked in response— When you feel unsafe in a space, what do you need to feel safe again? The answer was;
‘I feel safe in a space when I can see others like me in that same space— when I can see myself in that space.’
My favorite tiny little thing as a child was my mother’s music box. I loved that it was this minuscule little world, that I could open the lid, slip out of real life for a while and escape into it. The idea that a music box could be a tool for self-soothing, something beautiful and calming, a place where you put your most precious talismans, led me to make one as the vehicle for my wearable safe space. If the wearer is in a hostile environment, an environment in which they feel alone, they would be able to comfort themselves by looking into it— they would be able to actually envision themselves in that alienating space, bring a song with them that reminds them of their identity, and transport into a space where they truly are seen."
How does your work relate to the theme Adorned Serenity—
How does the work function as a wearable safe space?
I am my own safe space, hand embroidered recycled cotton, 14k gold frame, copper, mirror, music box mechanism, cotton cord, 3 x 4 inches, 2023
How do you see this piece existing in the world as a wearable safe space?
Or is this piece specific to you?
"This piece is customizable. The song can be changed, depending on the needs of the wearer. However, currently it is very much specific to me. I spent a long time considering the best way to signal “safety” to my brain, via reflecting myself onto a foreign landscape.
I chose the intro to Janelle Monáe’s ‘I Only Have Eyes 42,’ which is a sample of Jamaican artist Derrick Harriot’s ‘The Loser.’
As a queer Jamaican woman, I found the intersectionality of this song to be fitting. Not only that, but when the beat comes in, it fully takes me away to a fictional, humid, joyful little island, where I’m surrounded by black and brown and queer folx who just want to dance and be, as they are.
My safe space, that I can carry around into sterile American grocery stores and coffee shops, post offices and banks. Office buildings and train stations.
Of course, my little queer island oasis might sound sticky and uncomfortable to someone else, so I made the piece with that in mind, and the song can be changed, depending on who is wearing it."
"Open In Case Of Emergency—-
Ever find yourself on a cross country road trip, driving through the Midwest, and you have to stop for coffee? While you wait in line, you look around and notice that you are the only queer around? Not a single asymmetrical haircut in sight ? (Haha just kidding… but really though).
Don’t worry, now you can be your own safe space. Just open your personal music box, and escape into the setting of your choice. To upload your own music, just lift the mirror, and connect the digital mechanism to your laptop— locate the folder on your desktop, drag and drop. It’s that easy!
**(Micro USB Cable not included)"
If someone found this piece and needed an instruction manual to make the safe space work — what’s a quick how to?
Anything else you would like to share about this work? This can be an important part of the process, sourcing materials, or research.
"As I mentioned, this was a tough prompt that initially led me down many different paths. The interview process was probably my favorite part, getting to have this discussion with my favorite people. It also led to me to better understand them.
Everyone’s need for safety differed so greatly— someone jokingly said that the only way they would feel safe in a space was with a gun. Meanwhile, the idea of a bringing a weapon into a space was someone else’s very definition of creating an unsafe space. Others wished for a disguise, armor, a talisman, to never be alone— I had people say that avoidance was their best and only tactic for dealing with hostile environments.
Narrowing this all down was the most difficult part, and honestly I could see this as the beginning of a further exploratory series for me. So anyways, thank you. For starting the conversations, and for making me consider some tough truths about the ways in which the people I love move throughout the world."