I recently completed a statement art necklace that I named the Collective Cry and thought I'd share a little about it.
This piece came together very slowly. I had held on to that center gemstone for some years, struck by its beauty, mostly nervous to use it in a piece. I really wanted to do it justice.
After completing some projects recently, I felt almost a wave of rebellion come over me. The thoughts that I was having before starting this piece were about how artists/makers are expected to generate a certain type of art, but straying from the path to make something eccentric, or even experimental, is usually viewed as wrong.
I wrestled with a number of designs for the gemstone and nothing was really working properly. This piece is inspired by some personal conversations I had with friends and also by the political stance on the current wars taking place this year.
A conversation with a friend made me realize that we all are feeling the heaviness of everything going on. We watch from our phones, from a place that feels very privileged yet hopeless, as world events unfold and we're left to simply watch. My friend spoke about feeling overwhelmed, hopeless, and confused.
Soon after that conversation, a meme started floating around the internet with an AI-generated image of the conflict happening abroad and the words "All Eyes on Rafah." It was again an image that reminded me of my hopeless privilege.
But then the wheels started turning.
What if I turned this into art and created a talismanic jewelry piece of sorts to ward off these evil, uncertain feelings? I brought people into my process on Instagram to share my own healing, navigate through feelings together, and create a statement piece as a reminder of this moment and how we all need to have a good cry right now.
And so the idea for the Collective Cry was born.
I riffed off the AI-generated "All Eyes on Rafah" meme to create the cloud of eyes. I thought to myself, "we're actually just destroying everything, our earth, each other, our families, our political systems," so in my mind I turned that phrase into "All Eyes on Everything We're Tearing Down." That phrase obviously comes with a lot of heaviness, and therefore the gemstone became representative of the giant tear we all aren't allowing ourselves to truly feel. As a result, the next thought I had was how beautiful it would be if we all just felt those feelings together instead of in the isolation that we're carrying on with well past the pandemic.
Bit by bit, I added the amulets to symbolize themes like a heart full of passion, the light we all carry within us, ancient energies, taking time to rest, and fighting the good fight. I had stashed the perfect teardrop rock crystal beads to add even more to this piece. In the world of crystals and energies, rock crystal is used for just about everything from absorbing to channeling to summoning. I wouldn't consider myself knowledgeable in the metaphysical realm, but I am aware that rock crystal is used often in that world. As a designer, I wanted to infuse this piece with as much positivity and empowerment as possible.
The finishing touch was the hand clasp to represent the hug we all need.
I found the making of this necklace to be incredibly inspiring. I'm hoping to tap into that design process for the upcoming collection that will be all about sinking my hands into the earth and reconnecting with the land, and the soil, that is around us.
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