Honour Your Inner Magpie

ArtLog: sneak preview
The Interstitial Arts Foundation asked me to make something for a fundraiser. This is what happened next.

The piece was inspired by a story by Jon Singer called "Willow Pattern," in the anthology INTERFICTIONS. Here's the copy I sent with the piece:

This necklace was inspired by Jon Singer's short story, "Willow Pattern." The piece of broken china is indeed Willow Pattern, and I found the piece years ago in a hedgerow in Ireland in the Wicklow Hills, outside the home of Diane Duane and Peter Morwood. The various beads came to me from unlikely sources: broken jewelry, leftovers from friends, or in the case of the little dangling pendant piece, something found run over in the street. I thought that was particularly appropriate for this piece, given the story's exploration of deterioration and change. The chain that dangles from the pendant's sterling silver wirework is a corroded chain from a box of old jewelry. PLEASE BE AWARE THAT THIS CHAIN MAY LEAVE MARKS IF WORN ON LIGHT-COLORED CLOTHING. This, too, is in keeping with the theme of the story: it may mark you to wear this piece. Be aware of that, please. I do not know if the corrosion will rub off. I do not know if the story will do to you what it has done to me: disquiet me, delight me, frighten me, fascinate me. I have saved that bit of Willow Pattern china for years, waiting for the right thing to do with the broken bit. I think this necklace is it. I put the whole thing on a cord of black rubber, because I like the contrast between the scientifictional rubber tubing and the fantastical silver wirework.

Elise Matthesen,
LIONESS: ornament for people and places
2008

They're starting their benefit auction pretty soon, and that's where this will be, but I thought I'd give you a sneak peek now. More when they tell me where the links are, and all that. In the meantime, I strongly recommend the story. (It's in this anthology.)