Monthly Archives: June 2018

1” x 1”, Glass

Without a safe space we all struggle.  It’s been painful to listen to the news about families being separated at the border and to think about where the children who find themselves suddenly alone are sent. What could those spaces do to comfort them?  To make them feel safe in such a scary and lonely moment?  I live in a sanctuary city.  So at some level the city’s policies keep people safer from deportation and separation but they don’t solve the problems of flawed immigration policy and global inequity.  The pendant design evokes the colored glass and dark lead lines of the stained glass windows that adorn so may of the sacred spaces that have served as political sanctuaries for centuries.  But the glass is broken horizontally to leave jagged edges and irregularities because no sanctuary is fully protecting, and we won’t be finished with our work as a sanctuary city until all families feel safe.  Ironically, or appropriately, as I cut away the clear glass from the top of the tiles to build them into the sanctuary pendant, the pieces that fell away looked like ICE.

1”x1”, Found objects and flameworked borosilicate glass

As someone who studied medical antrhropology, I have a lot of respect for the amazing variety of ways that people heal around the world and the ways that medical technologies change over time. I’ve always loved the history of medicine.  Old instruments, aged metal, glass medicine bottles, peeling labels.  This pendant combines metal and glass objects that feel like old trappings of healthcare with a fleshy-looking piece of encased borosilicate glass.  I love the way that as medical instruments age, they become more like the wounds that they’re meant to heal. Less flashy and perfect and shiny, more real.

$45

Ceramic tiles and putty, 2″x .5″

Health is all about balance.  Balancing enjoyment with healthy choices, balancing all the many tasks that need to be done with time for relaxing, balancing alone time with socializing, and so many more daily, hourly and minute-by-minute microbalances that they themselves can become overwhelming.  But this pendant, made of tiny colorful ceramic tiles, is a perfect balance.  Although a stack of shapes is precariously tall, the pile has stayed in balance and stayed strong.

Glass, metal, found objects 1”x2”

Some of my favorite things about traveling are exploring twisty alleyways, following a delicious smell, seeing flowers tumbling off a balcony, and watching the evening sky turn dark blue as the sun sets over rooftops.  The variety of sights, the messiness of traveling, and the exhaustion of the trip make the images in my mind fall all over each other, layering colors, textures and smells together to leave me an impression of the place I’ve been.  This pendant reflects that jumble of memory images, the impression of the place, with its blues, glimmers, age and rust. The blue night sky and the shiny water, the rooftops and the stairways.

Fabric, found objects, 1”x1”

Symbols are powerful.  As an anthropologist I learned about the way humans attribute meaning to objects and connect objects to important memories.  These objects maintain our memory, keeping history alive and helping us feel connected to the past.  Some symbols and objects carry longer memories than souvenirs, generations of implications and attributions. The fabric in the background of this pendant is from and Indian sari, and the jeweled hand that covers it is a symbol shared by many cultures, representing happiness, health and protection. Not only the objects and their forms but also their colors and patterns have meaning for my family and for the people who have shared them over generations.