Eden Tighe
she/her
Edinboro, PA, USA
Eden Tighe is a metalsmith and textile artist. She is currently a senior studying Jewelry and Metals at PennWest Edinboro University for her BFA. Her main focus is making sculptural body adornment and jewelry that communicate relational interactions. Her interests in wildlife, color, and texture act as common themes to symbolize her studies exploring personal experiences.
“A major goal for my work is to create a mind-boggling experience. I want people to spend time with my work, experience it and alter perspectives. It provides me with a place of catharsis and a place to analyze relational interactions through various forms of imagery. As an interdisciplinary artist, a technique in my practice is assembling various materials to craft a concrete entity. Examples of this have been soft sculptures and sculptural jewelry using metal and textiles. These material choices are often drawn from personal experiences and narratives. While also providing me with a wider palette of contextual values. Overall, my work is an act of perseverance, using the process as a means of conquering struggles. Along with reaching out to others to help feel validated and seen.”
How does your work relate to the theme connection?
“Through the transition period of living on my own, I have been presented with challenges resulting in extreme feelings of loneliness. The figures in Alone represent these feelings and the struggle to connect back to one whole self.
When observing the necklace its striking colors emphasize the imagery created. The imagery is intensified to speak for the words that cannot be expressed, but created.
Furthermore, the choices made in the piece can be drawn from who I am, but showing the state of distress. The rhinestones on the back of the fabric symbolize the bright energy I can exude. The usage of color and material in each section show contrasting characteristics I experience. For example, the scrimshaw and anodized titanium being two different parts of me trying to reconnect and become one again."
"Alone", Anodized titanium, bone, pigmented ink, cotton, fleece, paracord, rhinestones, 23.5” x 14.25” x 1.25”, 2024
NYCJW24 @ UrbanGlass, Francely Flores
What role does connection play in your creative process?
“Overall, the main subject I study in my craft is relational values. In general, each relationship is formed by a connection and each connection holds varying values. These could be specific emotions displayed between two entities or even the connection of one’s mind to their body.
However, a different perspective to view connection is a roadmap. It illustrates how one event leads onto the next and why. For example, Alone highlights the background of how my loneliness conspired or the values that affect the feeling. Starting from a young age I was taught to hide my emotions and was not encouraged to express my struggles, which now has resulted in a habit of dealing with struggles alone: thinking if I step back, I can figure things out and step forward again. I am even left with thoughts like ‘no one wants to help me’, ‘no one cares,’ or ‘no one will understand’. Altogether, forming the secret hope that someone will notice and help provide comfort. This value of connection challenges the idea on the surface, while contradicting the idea underneath."
NYCJW24 @ UrbanGlass, Simon Leung
What connection(s) does your queerness make to the world around you?
“I have always been active in the queer community ever since I was able to. Uplifting and providing voices for queer people promotes love and inclusivity that we need in the environment around us. By providing opportunities for queer people, to showcase Visual and Performance Art, it helps establish awareness that we are people in the world as well. Furthermore, having the space to express our identity allows us to explore it even further. I have been a drag queen for three years. After a year of performing and making connections with lots of trans women, I started to see myself in them. Without places for the queer community, I would not have made these connections and would have had my identity suppressed.
Unfortunately, I still live in an area where my transness dictates my safety and the steps I take in daily life. However, I strongly value standing my ground and forcing others to become accustomed to someone like me being in the world. Thankfully, with my personal community they help me feel validated as a trans woman and help forgo some of the struggles I may deal with out in the world. Ultimately, being queer gives us a home. You know you will have support from at least one other queer person when you are in need of love and support."
NYCJW24 @ UrbanGlass, Francely Flores
Anything else you would like to share about this work?
This can be an important part of the process, sourcing materials, or research.
“Ultimately, this piece is an epiphany of my practice. It creates a place for me to heal and feel at peace. Alone particularly helped me navigate through feelings of loneliness and help to connect all of the pieces back together to heal my soul."
[queerphoria]v4 @ ECU Symposium
