Jewelry: New Heirlmooms
Through the creation of new multicultural family heirlooms, I replace and reconnect the elements of my cultural inheritance which have been lost and obscured by combining elements of the visual traditions of my mixed heritage. My work focuses on adornment of the body giving emphasis to the historical traditions and symbolism surrounding different forms of adornment. Through this work, I resurrect the visual cultures of my ancestors and grant myself conditional access to my inherited cultures from which my mixed-race Otherizes me. This access is dependent on taking elements of the visual traditions of Spain and India and anchoring them to specific memories from my upbringing outside of these cultures. By wearing these multicultural heirlooms, the mixed body is at once tethered to yet held at a distance from its ancestral cultures.
2023
Copper wire, fine silver, spray paint, found medals and pendants.
Mantilla
This piece is based on the Spanish mantilla, a lace head garment worn by women to religious occasions and holidays. This mantilla is crocheted from copper wire,and Catholic medals and Indian ghungroo bell pendants hang from the lace, weighting the edges. Catholicism was brought to Goa, India through a violent inquisition by Portuguese colonizers. This piece is at once delicate and protective, acknowledging the violence of India’s Catholic history and the violence of Spanish Catholic projects.
Peineta
This piece uses the design of the Spanish Peineta or hair comb. I combine this traditional Spanish design with Indian mendhi motifs to create a multicultural object.
2023
Recycled wax-cast sterling silver, enamel, upcycled chain and beads.
These pieces are based on the traditional Indian head jewelry the Maang Tikka that is commonly worn for celebrations. The Maang Tikka consists of a chain which hooks into the hair and lays on the middle part with a pendant that rests on the forehead. These Maang Tikkas feature hand-carved wax cast robin heads with hand-painted enamel. One Maang Tikka holds the head of a European Robin while the other has an Indian Robin. These robins symbolize my mixed heritage from Spain, Ireland, and India which are home to these different robins. The pendants also act as homage to my mother’s pet childhood robin, Chicky Bird.
2023
Recycled sterling silver, antidepressant pill.
This ring combines aspects of the traditional Indian arsi ring with celtic knot motifs. The arsi ring has a flat circular face and a mirror mounted in the center. The mirror is both decorative and protective as it can be used to look over the shoulder of the wearer. I engraved celtic knots around the perimeter of the ring, referencing my Irish heritage. In place of a mirror, I mounted an antidepressant pill. The pill references mental health conditions as a form of inheritance, and suggests medications as protective objects.
2024
Recycled sterling silver.
These three rings and bangle combine the Indian ghungroo design with the concept of Spanish castanets. Ghungroos are small bells worn on the body, especially around the ankles, by Indian classical dancers and act as an instrument. These bells are also thought to protect against the evil eye. The rings are made to be worn around the fingertips of the thumb, forefinger, and middle finger. When the fingers are clicked together like castanets, they produce musical sound. When worn together, the rings and bangle function as adornment and a multicultural instrument.
Reflector Eye Shield
2024
Brass, mirrors, sterling silver bells, found medals.
The Reflector Eye Shield protects the wearer from absorbing outside perceptions. Multiracial people are often phenotypically ambiguous. When your physical appearance does not accurately represent your race, you are susceptible to the perceptions and projections of others. This object subverts these projections by showing the reflection of the viewer, highlighting the personal beliefs, projections, and assumptions that they may reflect onto the wearer. Through the inclusion of ghungroo bells and Catholic medals, this piece reflects my own mixed heritage, at once presenting and obscuring my identity to the viewer.
2024
Brass, aluminum.
Milagros are traditionally Spanish votive charms thought to heal the ailed body parts they symbolize when offered up to saints and deities. These Milagros are specific to ailments and challenges my family has faced along with symbols of comfort and home. Also my first time making a chain! From left to right: a mussel shell, an eye, a stomach, lungs, a femur bone, a heart, a tooth, an ear, a hand, a banana fruit sticker, a Red Rose tea tag.
2024
Bronze, fine silver, brass, resin, Klonopin, Red Rose tea.
This rosary references remnants and patterns of colonial and cultural violence throughout my family history. The beads contain crushed Klonopin pills and Red Rose English Breakfast Tea trapped in resin, referencing the Portuguese and British colonial history of India and the epidemiological effects of cultural violence. The pendants were hand carved in wax and cast in bronze. The central pendant features the Red Rose tea logo. The cross pendant features Indian mendhi and paisley designs with a banner which reads "Hi Mhoji Kudd", meaning "This is my Body," in Konkani, the dying native language of my Indian heritage. This rosary synthesizes my family histories and cultural experiences through the common theme of Catholicism.
2024
Bronze.
This ring combines the design of my late grandfather’s signet ring with the bear motif and text of “strike fast” which are engraved on the front of his boxing medal. The weighty ring acts as decoration and a “brass knuckle” of sorts, providing ancestral strength and protection to the wearer.
2024
Recycled sterling silver, fine silver, enamel.
This amulet portrays the stained glass window in my late grandparent’s bedroom which I was mesmerized with as a child. The window is a protective charm meant to be carried, held, hung, or worn by the wearer.
2024
Recycled sterling silver, brass, fine silver, enamel.
This kinetic ring is modeled after my late grandfather’s rowboat. The rowboat lay face down in the yard during my childhood and my cousins and I often played on it. This ring, however, imagines the rowboat as active once again, with its construction allowing the boat to move back and forth along the finger.