| Materials | Neckpiece. Polymer clay micro mosaics, lamp worked glass beads, sterling silver, wood, steel paper, elastic, a metal strip, needle, thread, pin cushion, and tape measure. |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | Glass bead necklace: 20″ long Mask: 8.5″ long (including chain) Piggy Bank: 9.5″ long (including chain) Zoom Social Distancing/Tape Measure: 9″ (including chain) Scrapbook: 9″ (including chain) |
Description
“Life Left Dangling”
The “Covid Year” has radically changed many lives, including ours. When we were invited to participate in the show, we decided to make a chatelaine to allow us to focus on the many different aspects of our new reality. Each of the four component pieces can be worn separately or together.
More than a year ago, Dan began wearing surgical masks 8 hours everyday at work in the laboratory. At that same time I started making cloth masks for us and our friends who didn’t sew – experimenting with different fabrics and shapes to improve “breathability”. I hand sewed each one (no sewing machine and I made at least 50!). The side effect is my sewing skills have improved a lot. This all inspired our first element, the “Mask”.
I decided the pendant needed to have a flip down covering so my mosaic person can breathe. I wanted it to also be purposeful so the locket portion contains a mask repair kit – with elastic, a metal strip, needle, thread and pin cushion.
The next element was the piggy bank, “Reserve”. Like most people, the financial impact of Covid-19 was great and we were lucky to have savings to get us through tough times. Nancy Bonnema, the silversmith who worked on the piece made a dangling piggy bank with a “gold” coin. The bank is hollow though no American coin fits through the slot.
A tough issue for us all this last year was social distancing. Having to see friends remotely, I learned how to Zoom, developing another new skill despite my technical incompetence. The “6-foot Rule” commemorates this experience by including a functioning tape measure (6 feet!) and a mosaic of these virtual get togethers.
Inside our last piece, “The Scrapbook”, a wood and steel box made by my husband, Dan Adams, is a hand bound book with images of our pandemic year – the protests in Seattle, jewelry and crafts made during these many months alone, puzzles, a November road trip, walking around the neighborhood, gardening and a portrait with our masks on. It also includes a reference to my other way of dealing with the solitude and social distancing – writing postcards, letters and emails. Since April 2020 I have contacted at least 10 friends each week.
I also want to point out the many beads on the necklace that reference the virus and the mosaic clasp which includes two syringes formed as a victory symbol, surrounded by floating virus elements. These floating viruses are themselves transformed in the mosaic from which the dangles are suspended into the survivor’s necklace.
-Cynthia Toops and Dan Adams