Chat_3_1000

Chat_1000

Chat_2_1000

The chatelain, godmother of the keychain, was a hook and chain assembly hung from a belt that would incorporate little useful things – toothpick, magnifying glass, key, ear spoon, etc.  It invokes images of bodices and elaborate hair, powdered wigs and candlelight.

The animal heads suspended from it, a doe, alligator and seagull, are miniaturizations of woodcarvings found on Key Marco, Florida.  The minimal formal voice in the carvings has always fascinated me, somehow with added charge being from one of the farthest corners of the continent.  The Native Americans that made them are vanished to memory.   I sought to fuse two cultures that met in a single timeframe and place, colonial America, as a way to explore feelings of reconciliation by wearing an object.   It also asks about the ways in which fashion, like other kinds of communication, manage to reach every crevice of a place.  A bullet, of green chrysoprase, finishes the piece.

The piece has a good weight to it, about 1 1/2 ounces sterling silver, with sturdy rings and a rustic finish. It can easily be worn as a pendant by removing the belt chain.  The pendant length is 3 1/4″, the overall length 7 3/4″.

· $500

Monk, Tree Ivory (Tagua)

2011 and before.

All of the items below this entry constitute work still available that I completed up to 2011.  Inspired by ancient, ‘ethnic’ and tribal art, my designs sought to be not too flashy at a distance, but when looked at closely to be obviously handmade by a craftsperson, not fitting any familiar modern style or pattern, and therefore extremely rare. I was less interested in making a purely attractive or apparently valuable decoration;  more interesting was creating a pleasant encounter with anachronistic, extra-societal puzzlement.  Please be sure to check out the “Sold Items” for some great pieces that have gone to collections.  Although many of these are cast, most are one of a kind or limited in number.  I will not be recasting any of the work from this time period.

Bench

This year marks a new beginning for my practice.  I’ve grown interested in organic materials, and will be changing my approach.  Abandoning concerns for fashion, marketing, etc., each piece will be a unique project unto itself, seeking completion in itself, and carrying meaning. It’s hard to predict what is to come as I push into the territory of art.

I have four of these left, raw and ready to finish to your preference.  Price is $150 as a belt buckle, $100 as an art medal, please inquire. I also have a few in white bronze.

Anchored_0688

Anchored_0842

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Slideshow Stefan Boonstra

2.1.12

· SOLD