Finished!

I’ve been working on this mourning necklace for quite a while now. Previously, I posted an image from my sketch book of the design of what I thought it would look like when finished. I always allow my work to evolve during the creation process, I don’t try to force the piece to conform to a pre-prescribed notion of what it should be. I like to think of my jewelry ‘growing’ into a finished piece, and letting the materials help to dictate the form. Sometimes finished pieces look quite different than their sketches.

Surprisingly, this necklace looks very similar to the original sketch. I literally just finished it, the glue isn’t even set yet! I can’t wait to put it on the body and see how it lays.

I’ve been liking working with the horse hair, it has a very surreal sensation when it comes in contact with the body the body that I appreciate. It’s pretty coarse, so it also doesn’t immediately give off a post-mortem feeling; it’s actually pretty subtle in terms of content. With the beads on this piece, it also reminds me of a mourning veil or decorative netting.