The ties we share-Tiny colonies

I've been working on The Stars are Not Only in the Sky series and within this series is overlapping the Ties We Share series. It's a combo platter. 

I've been making ocean babies! I kept thinking about how we care about the coral reef nurseries, but we really don't know what coral babies look like. They are tiny and it is difficult to picture ocean babies. Visualizing coral babies helps the coral reefs. They become more than just a backdrop to a great photo. They become real beings in real coral reef neighborhoods. 

In this re-envisioning, the conventional mens workwear symbol becomes a necklace.

Utilizing fine fabrics to create small, soft beings reminiscent of our extended ocean family as a way to show that one is working on keeping ecological connection to varied ecosystems. 

This summer scientists and activists in Florida created a coral nursery to try and save as many baby coral from the extreme heat in the ocean. The children of the ocean are not commonly at the forefront of our thoughts. Their tiny size, non-mammalian shapes, and unfamiliar early stages of growth keep us from relating to them as beings with diverse communities, developed communication, and deep foundational purpose. 

Enlarging the circle of neighbors, friends, and loved ones to include more than just the human allows for a deeper connection to our shared world.

Part of the Ties We Share series.

I made fiber necklaces. I made the necklace by braiding gold threading. It's fine like a gold metal chain, but the entirety of the piece is soft. It was important that it be a soft. I cut shapes in silk and made special stars to "live" on the tiny reef colony. I wanted the nature of the men's necktie as a "working at the office" symbol to shift towards a daily reminder "jewelry" piece that means we are actively on-the-job remembering the children that go unrecognized. 

I thought about chopping up the silk and adding it to a plaster, but the companies that have made these silk ties invested in quality silk and carefully designed the fabric to withstand wear and tear. They are artifacts of something, we, humans, spent a lot of time building. We should not throw it away. And the strands are strong.

As in my previous work, I am using their DNA to build a new life. 

Can I use these materials to bring attention to that which needs attention? Can we shine this light on our ocean allies?