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Coping Mechanism: for overwhelming thoughts
Coping Mechanism: for overwhelming thoughts
Coping Mechanism: for overwhelming thoughts

Coping Mechanism: for overwhelming thoughts

Maker (Manchester, born 1982)
Date2021
Object NameSculpture
Mediumglass, swan feathers
ClassificationsApplied Art
DimensionsOverall (Mortar Height x Width x Depth): 310 × 223 × 220mm
Overall (Pestle Height x Width x Depth): 185 × 45 × 45mm
AcquisitionPurchased in 2023 with assistance from the National Fund for Acquisitions, Art Fund and Aberdeen Art Gallery Trusts.
Copyright© Vicky Higginson
LocationOn Display - Gallery 05
Object numberABDMS095714.3
About MeVicky Higginson was one of six successful artists commissioned by Jerwood Art Fund Makers Open (JAFMO) to make new work.

For her JAFMO commission, Higginson created Coping Mechanisms which is a series of glass healing devices that draw on folklore, mythology and medical history to imagine ways to treat emotional ailments.

The designs were inspired by historic medical instruments, in this case a mortar and pestle to break up overwhelming thoughts.

Feathers, mirrors and mark-making techniques reoccur throughout the work, referencing the symbolic presence of these in both fairy tales and rituals across the globe, often as a way to connect to other worlds or to see things differently.