The Savage Silence

Further to the ecalyptus leaves ruminations in my last post, I've been tinkering more on ideas for my exhibition-level art (ie stuff what goes in a gallery). I've been wanting to get back into it for some time now, the abstract level allows me to toy with weird notions in a way that you can't translate into jewlery without looking like a pretentious onanist. Which is a fancy way of saying- lookit what I did the other day!

I originally planned to make something more simple, even more painterly. I had some rusty tin I'd painted pale green on the other side and was merrily cutting out leaf shapes for something or other (just had to do it, you get me). I went to trim it down slightly on the edges and the tin snips were too blunt, so they just folded the metal instead. 

What initially had me swearing turned out to be a boon- I continued to fold the sides down then hammered them and smoothed the lot with sandpaper, removing rough edges and bringing out the shiny exposed steel where the green paint flaked off from hammering.

 

I punched a few holes here and there, it gave them a more realistic bug-chewed/cinder-burned appearance. 

When I started out, I meant for this green side to be the front, but once the folding happened I realized the rusted side was more apt- it's like two sides of this landscape, reflected in the symbolism of eucalypt trees- on the one hand you have this lush green flora which makes you feel all cool and refreshed, then bush fires spring up and boom, ash and burning. Duality is a strong theme in my work, I've noticed- polished vs raw, fragile vs strong, romance vs reality.

 I wrapped some edging from the tin around the steel hoop to keep everything from sliding off- I like to put a 'make do and mend' overtone to my work, and that's exactly what I did- I needed a solution to bulk the design and keep the leaves in place, and the tin strip was right in front of me. Reminds me of haphazard fence construction around here, where gaps made by livestock have been bound together with what ever's laying around.

So yeah. That was pretty left of centre for me too, really- I mean it's still jewelry (I'll put it on a simple leather cord) but I'm not usually one to look to Australia to inspire me. It's still a strange notion.

One more thing- you'll find my shops on vacation- it was a sudden decision, but I needed a break. My post-traumatic is settling in nicely, making sure that every now and then I find the most ordinary of tasks too difficult to cope with. I have to make a conscious effort to be nice to myself now and then, so I'm using the next week or so to get a few things organised that will make my life easier. Most of which involve cleaning- oh I hear you groaning! I seem to be the only person I know who actually likes cleaning.