kum boo

Chased and kum boo amulet, suspended from a Roman chain

Sterling, fine silver, 24K gold; 1-11/16″ x 7/8″ x 1/4″, 22″ chain

I have long had a fascination with religious architecture and the very human shapes that architects have chosen for the internal and external structures of buildings from every culture. Ever since people crawled through the belly of the earth to paint on cave walls, humans have implicitly venerated stone-formed symbols of the womb. These transformational symbols of form and space are imprinted on our psyches. The towers of Medieval Gothic, Islamic, and Indian architecture are obviously phallic, but the cloisters, naves, archways, and domes of these styles are undeniably feminine.

Much of my work is about this reflection of masculine and feminine form and space, which my Puritan-rooted culture pretends to ignore, even as people worship from within such buildings. The chased eyes on the front of the amulet symbolize the soul, as the stars, crescents, and curves on the back symbolize the cosmos. The outside shape was inspired by the temples of Khajuraho in India. The amulet serves as a gentle reminder that images and shapes repeat throughout art and time, but creativity lies in how one interprets them in one’s own work.