Portal is yet another riff on my ‘Journey’ concept, with a different approach to the metalwork. It was heavy on the ‘archaeological talisman’ look, each piece a statement, and was my first use of jeweler’s brass known in Europe as tombac, a high copper-content alloy of copper that has a lovely yellow glow. This allowed me to go bigger with my settings, and bolder, as well as achieve golden hues which make enamels look so luscious. This collection was a culmination of the work of previous years, stylistically and technically too, and was a pivot into larger ceremonial pieces.
Portal (private collection)
The checkerboard element to this piece was a personal best - enamellers know the struggle of creating these shapes with wire. Thematically, the piece depicts a ‘portal’ in the air, through which one may leave the mundane world to peer into the next one. The rigid chessman life we live springs into a dimension of sinewy gold, and instead of the electic lights of the city, a bright tree burns forever in an impossibly blue sky.
Download (private collection)
Every upgrade is preceded by a Download. The endless riff on the theme of Ecydysis which is so dear to me - emergence, metamorphosis, change. This is a riff on my earlier ‘Channel’ piece - in fact, Channel was initially sketched with a strand of DNA this way, but my wireworking skills had not been honed up to a level where I could achieve what the design demanded of me. The ‘alien artificat’ setting is also something I had explored and would re-explore.
The Only Path (Private Collection)
Imagery that keeps repeating in my work, this time accompanied in a choker-style setting
There Is No Other (Private Collection)
A student approached enlightened sage Ramana Maharshi and asked 'Guru, how should be treat others?'. Maharshi replied to him, 'There are no others'.
Hard concept to chew. So, I drew. This piece is iteration 2 of the same concept, now in a tombac setting.