hand dyed fabric, wool felt, steel pins, sterling silver, fine silver, 14k gold solder, pearls, found objects.

On the Pincushion:

The ubiquity of the tomato pincushion was the genesis of this art piece. Everyone has seen the tomato pincushions in the sewing kits of parents and the aisle of the craft store. Tomatoes (the eating variety) have transformed from robust heirloom varieties of to the white and mealy grocery store orbs barely fit for eating. The tomato pincushion has undergone the same dilution. Through sourcing natural fabrics and dyeing them, to stuffing it with traditional materials (beans, wool, and hair) I sought to rediscover what made the tomato pincushion the touchstone of homespun charm that it is.
Similarly, the meditative process of making the dozens and dozens of pins – attaching small pieces of sterling silver wire to steel pins, gently drawing a rivet over the delicate pearls – became a meditation on those items we used to use make and use as a culture versus those which we purchase and consume today. A few wasps (as other straight pins), buzz around the tomato. They remind us of the natural state of the tomato, and they signify the industriousness embodied in an object as humble as a pincushion.

On the Spool:As silly as it may sound, I often feel as though I am rescuing objects as I snatch them off the ground and place them to a place of reverence in my curio cabinet. For months I obsessed over the shape of the wooden spools in my collection - their simplicity, smoothness, and their differences from the variety of plastic spools on which I buy my thread today. Inlaying sterling silver into the wood of the spool was a new technique I’d been itching to try for a while and it seemed an appropriate way to draw new attention to the object.

On the Thimble:

This antique thimble, from my mother’s collection, was split and squared from use - the metal torn in four places. I cleaned, annealed, and reshaped the piece. Then, using thin gold wire and solder, filled the bare spaces with new metal. I realize I could have done the same with sterling wire and solder, and after replacing the texture my intervention would have been completely unnoticeable. That was not the point. I wanted the history of use to be present on the thimble, to add to the aesthetic beauty of the object.

In one apocryphal origin story of the “Hanky Code,” were worn to signify leads and follows during all-male square dancing socials out West, following the California Gold Rush. Handkerchiefs, bandanas, pocket squares, scarves - all of these bits of fabric are innocuous accessories any individual might carry on any given day. However, The hanky in the backpocket can also function as a secret code within certain sexual subcultures - enabling members to signal (or “flag”) erotic interests without making oneself overly visible outside of the group. This piece pays homage to both the narrative of square dancing gold miners and secret codes in post-Stonewall bars. Thinking about the whirling, changing partners of a square dance, I created this bolo, with a sterling silver frame to display one of the many different enameled panels. Some of the panels are hand-painted bandana patterns representing the spectrum of sexual proclivities for which one can flag. Other panels are decorative - bright 24k gold leaf to bring some shine. Another panel carries the message of the group ACT UP – “Silence = Death"

What Keeps Us Warm Anthracite coal, sterling silver

Anthracite coal, sterling silver

Medium: Copper, vitreous enamel, sterling silver, salt, pearl
Year of Completion: 2015
Dimensions: 3 x 2.5 x 2.5 Inches

Medium: Copper, vitreous enamel, sterling silver, salt, pearl
Year of Completion: 2015
Dimensions: 3 x 2.5 x 2.5 Inches