For this project I chose to work with materials that do not fit into the dominant social narrative. Weeds are a marginalized group of botanicals that are weeded and removed for what they are.

I rather call these plants wild flowers. My labour is an attempt to change perception.

My design proposal for the Jos Brink award is: a brooch, made out of wild flowers, casted in bioplastic so that it can be planted after use.

The story goes that Oscar Wilde, wore a green carnation brooch to symbolize his homosexual affections. I re-value this symbolic meaning by using three different types of wild flowers.

The purple colour of the bio-plastic refers to the violet, a sign used by the lesbian community throughout history.

This award is a moment of celebration. Yet it is also a moment to emphasize that emancipation is a thing that needs to worked on continuously. The gesture of the delicate brooch that can be planted afterwards emphasizes this constant care. With this care a new flower will flourish in the future.'

'Both my grandmothers got married and are financially dependent on my grandfathers. As a child, my father had his mother around to take care of the household and his father managed the finances. For my father, a good education for me was “to become a woman” with the image of his own mother in mind. Through my growing understanding of feminism, I became aware of the role I had as a female child which enabled me to step away from it.

I see porcelain mainly used for domestic purposes and by association is connected to the role of women historically. It is at the same time a strong and fragile material that symbolizes women’s emancipation.

This design is my way to embody the fragile tension between the assigned behaviours resulting from heredity patterns and the strength of will to shape our own future.

This tension needs to be shown and acknowledged in the award in order to thank the activists for encouraging women to break out of the expected role and make women’s fragile freedom a strength today.'