Metaphor and Symbolism

The difference between a metaphor and symbolism

Metaphor: A comparison between two seemingly different things. It is an implied personal language of expression and is used as a "device of poetic imagination."It is experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another (Lakoff and Johnson 2003:3,5)

In the book Metaphors we live by Lakoff and Johnson, they talk about metaphors being part of our everyday lives. They say that the concepts that cannot be physically seen can be made more tangible or more understandible in the form of metaphors.

Metaphors can also be described as " the application of a name or descriptive term or phrase to an object or actionto which it is imaginatively but not literally applicable" (tulloch 1993:958 "the readers digest oxford complete word finder")

Metaphorical expression differs from a symbolic interpretation because a metaphor is more a personal interpretation of an idea and a symbolic interpretation of a concept is more conventional or unoriginal and has more of a fixed meaning which the general public should be able to interpret.

Symbolism is a fixed idea or a meaningful association with something else. symbolism is an indirect suggestion to express ones ideas. "A symbol not only represents something else but also hints at a missing "something" an invisible part that is needed to achieve complete wholeness." (O'connell and Airey 2007:6 " Signs and Symbols: what they mean and how we use them")

I have found a wonderful jeweller whose works with symbolism of organic jewellery. Her name is Sharon Church and you can look at her work on http://www.sharonshurch.com/. Her works speak of the cycles of life and the process of change that comes with these cycles. I feel that her work speaks of transience in the cycles of life she uses in her jewellery and her organic forms have connotations of fragility held within them.


So I have been very busy working with the hydrangea flower when it is in full bloom, but now as the season for hydrangeas has past, I am taking a look at the hydrangea flowers that have dried out. I want my work to be symbolic of time passing/ different seasons/ changes in a cycle of life/ cycle of life/fragility of the impermanence of time and I am exploring ways to do this using the hydrangea as a metaphor for this. (it sounds long winded but eventually I will be able to phrase it properly)


here is the progress on the hydrangea piece I started for the end of year:

I still need to decide what finish I will do to the flowers. I do like the white look of the flowers and i am thinking of adding colour to a few of them. There are a few options:

• paint


• gold plating


• plastic


• enamel