2012

Islet | White, Neckpiece

American, born 1971

Informed by the artist’s experience as a lifelong diabetic, Islet | White Neckpiece is constructed of a hexagonal, honeycomb-like structure that represents the cell shape of diabetes mellitus, a severe form of diabetes. Manipulated using computer-aided design to generate more complex structures, the neckpiece’s form is produced directly from digital data providing factual medical information received from a continuous glucose monitoring system via an insulin pump. Aware that jewelry is an age-old communicator between wearer and spectator, Bucci uses his jewelry to publicize the physical state of diabetes and the fight against its deadly consequences. The cell structure represented in this neckpiece is intentionally pallid in order to suggest death.