Portfolio > Keys

Smulovitz Echniops Globe Thistle Key
sterling silver, amethyst
5 7/8" x 2 5/8" x 2 5/8", chain 33" photographed by Jim Wildeman
2003
Smulovitz Dandelion Key
sterling silver; 5" x 2 1/8" x 2 1/8", chain 33"
photographed by Jim Wildeman
2002
Smulovitz Wish Dandelion Key II
sterling silver
4 1/4" x 2 1/8" x 2 1/8", chain 28"
2005
Smulovitz Phalaenopsis Orchid Key
sterling silver, iolite
5 3/8" x 2 3/8" x 2 3/4", chain 33 1/2"
2002
Smulovitz Loss and Longing I
sterling silver; 5" x 5" x 1/4"
photographed by Jim Wildeman
2001
Smulovitz Loss and Longing III
sterling silver; 5 1/4" x 2 3/4" x 1/4"
photographed by Jim Wildeman
2001
Smulovitz Loss and Longing II
sterling silver; 5 1/4" x 2 3/4" x 1/4"
photographed by Jim Wildeman
2001
Smulovitz Silver Plant Anatomy Keys
sterling silver; 1 1/4" - 2" long
photographed by Jim Wildeman
2001
Smulovitz Silver Fern Key
sterling silver, garnet; 3 1/4" x 7/8" x 3/4"
photographed by Jim Wildeman
2000
Smulovitz Trillium sessile Key
sterling silver, moonstone
5 1/8" x 2 3/4" x 2 3/8"
2002
key, necklace, sterling silver, handmade, "anika smulovitz", smulovitz
sterling silver, wood
4 1/2" x 2" x 1/2"
2000
Smulovitz Keys; bronze
copper-electroplated bronze and copper, patina
3 1/2" - 4 1/2" x 3/4"
2001

What does this key unlock?
What is behind the door you wish to open?
Is it a secret garden? A magical world to escape into, or your backyard?
Or perhaps, instead of unlocking, you wish to keep a special object or place secure.
Maybe you hold the key to the last bit of untouched wilderness, or the key to the secret
of life, or maybe it’s just a key to your old apartment where the locks have been changed.

When you hold a key, you hold power. In many cultures, for example traditionally in Scandinavia and still today in Nepal, keys are displayed on the body like jewelry to show status. Keys have a long history, ranging from the ordinary, mundane object to the ritual object to the symbolic gesture (i.e. key to the city). It is not so much the key, as it is what the key can unlock that fascinates us.