 | I made this ring for myself at a time when I was about to undergo the legalities of becoming 'single' again. Though I rarely make pieces that are to remain in the artist's collection, that is, I hardly ever make anything just for me, I wanted something highly symbolic of the promises and commitments I had made to myself. I joke it is the wedding ring I made for me, because I was the only person with whom I knew for certain I wanted to spend the rest of my life. I chose the Peruvian opal because of its mesmerizing inclusions within. When held up to the light, it has the same depth and color spectrum as I found gazing into the Red Sea. Though I kept trying to convince myself to use another stone for fear that this one was too big for a ring, I kept picking it up and starring into it and finally surrendered to that fact that conventionality has never been one of my stronger values. The text along the bottom edge comprises sets of runes, the symbolic meanings of which I associated with my feelings of adventure and empowerment at the time I made the ring. The text I chased around the bezel taken from Nick Bantock's book, The Venetian's Wife. It reads "She who embraces herself knows neither within nor without." |
