The Beauty of Death

Beauty of Death

Conroy uses imagery of flora and fauna in her jewellery to express her “ideas about the cycle of life and the beauty and sadness in death” (Conroy, n.d.). She creates jewellery pieces that contain the actual dried bodies of dead animals with stones and pierced out motifs of flowers and butterflies. In doing this, Conroy creates ornate arrangements that help to “beautify” and break the taboos and fears surrounding the idea of death (Conroy, n.d.). Conroy uses jewellery that is worn on the “outer layer” as a reflection of her innermost feelings and emotions surrounding the idea of death and the intricate cycles of life (Conroy, n.d.).

Below is a photograph of a neckpiece that Conroy made using the dried-out body of a bird.

Figure 7 – Conroy, K., Neckpiece.
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