Loss of Innocence
Loss of Innocence 1; sterling silver, hair (from the artist at age 20), miniature porcelain pitcher (from artist's childhood), bark mulch (from the artist's children's schoolyard), 10 3/4" x 7" x 5", photograph by Doug Yaple, 2016
Loss of Innocence 2; sterling silver, bone, hair (from the artist at age 20), miniature porcelain tea cups (from artist's childhood), pearls, 8" x 7" x 7 1/2", photograph by Doug Yaple, 2016
Loss of Innocence 3; sterling silver, hair (from the artist at age 20), miniature porcelain saucers (from artist's childhood), 7 1/2" x 9 1/2" x 1/8", photograph by Doug Yaple, 2016
Loss of Innocence 4; sterling silver, hair (from the artist at age 20), miniature porcelain sugar bowl (from artist childhood), 4" x 3 1/4" x 3/4", photographed by Doug Yaple, 2016
Loss of Innocence 6; sterling silver, fine silver, copper, photograph (of the artist’s daughter’s eye), hair (from the artist at age 20), dollhouse toy chair, glass lens, cz, etching on the back - a drawing of the artist's daughter by her son (age 8), 3 3/4" x 4" x 3/4", photographed by Doug Yaple, 2017
Loss of Innocence 6 (back); sterling silver, fine silver, copper, photograph (of the artist’s daughter’s eye), hair (from the artist at age 20), dollhouse toy chair, glass lens, cz, etching on the back - a drawing of the artist's daughter by her son (age 8), 3 3/4" x 4" x 3/4", photographed by Doug Yaple, 2017
Loss of Innocence 5; hair (from the artist at age 20), dollhouse toy chair, sterling silver, 16" x 10" x 1", 2017
Loss of Innocence 5; hair (from the artist at age 20), dollhouse toy chair, sterling silver, 16" x 10" x 1", 2017
Loss of Innocence 11; sterling silver, pearls, garden hose section, hair, 11 1/2" x 3" x 2 1/2" (pendant); chain 27", 2019
Loss of Innocence 11; sterling silver, pearls, garden hose section, hair, 11 1/2" x 3" x 2 1/2" (pendant); chain 27", 2019
Hidden Hope 1; dollhouse table, hair, copper, bronze, silver, 2" x 4 1/4" x 3/4", 2018
Hidden Hope 1 (back); dollhouse table, hair, copper, bronze, silver, 2" x 4 1/4" x 3/4", 2018
Hidden Hope 2; dollhouse table, hair, copper, bronze, silver, 2" x 4 1/4" x 3/4", 2018
Hidden Hope 2 (back); dollhouse table, hair, copper, bronze, silver, 2" x 4 1/4" x 3/4", 2018
Hidden Hope 2; dollhouse table, hair, copper, bronze, silver, 2" x 4 1/4" x 3/4", 2018
For Richard; sterling silver, antique dollhouse chair, 2018
Loss of Innocence 15; sterling silver, hair, dollhouse basket (from artist's childhood), 2 5/8" x 2 3/8" x 3/8", 2018
Loss of Innocence 16; sterling silver, hair, antique enameled watch face, antique watch hands, 3 ¼” x 3 ½” x ½”, 2018
Loss of Innocence 17; sterling silver, hair, shell, 2 ¼” x 2 ½” x 3/8”, 2018
Loss of Innocence 18; sterling silver, hair, plastic dollhouse teapot (from artist’s childhood), 2 ½” x 2 ½” x 3/8”, 2018
Loss of Innocence 19; sterling silver, hair, plastic dollhouse pitcher and mugs (from artist’s childhood), 2 ¾” x 2 ¾” x ½”, 2018
Loss of Innocence 20; sterling silver, hair, metal dollhouse bottle (from artist’s childhood), 2 ¾” x 2 ½” x 3/8”, 2018
Loss of Innocence 12; sterling silver, hair, pearl, 2 1/4" x 2" x 3/8", 2017
Loss of Innocence 21; sterling silver, hair, 3" x 3" x 3/4", 2018
Loss of Innocence 14; sterling silver, hair, metal dollhouse pitcher (from artist's childhood), 3 3/8" x 3" x 5/8", 2018
Loss of Innocence 13; sterling silver, hair, wood (salvaged from the Wawona Schooner), 2 1/4" x 2" x 3/8", 2017
Loss of Innocence
With fear ever present in our “Age of Terror”, I find myself longing for a nostalgic childhood innocence while searching for hope - a childhood innocence that in reality is a whitewashed, nostalgic, fairytale, "happily ever after" past that does not exist. In my search for this nostalgic past, I examined imagery I had associated with childhood innocence - such as swings and dollhouse furniture. Since the beginning of human civilization, we have created objects during times of fear and uncertainty in an attempt to embody hope. I looked to the history of jewelry and metalsmithing for these objects, such as amulets, talisman, Memento Mori (symbolic reminders of mortality), Victorian mourning jewelry, and medieval reliquaries. Drawing from these historical objects and nostalgic childhood imagery, I created a body of work that attempted to reflect hope. However, after living with this particular body of work for several years, thinking about it in the context of my own life and in the context of contemporary society, I have come to realize that this work is not about hope, but about the loss of innocence.
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These objects were initially titled Tangible Hope, and then I changed the title to Longing. After self-reflection, I found these titles did not reflect the content of these objects. These objects are now titled Loss of Innocence.