Ephemeral Episode I
Ephemeral Episode I
Ephemeral Episode : (Crown of Lombardy) Drawn columbine flowers, ferns, snake, pearls (marker, ink, color pencil, gold and/or silver paint, on cut paper); sterling silver and aluminum wire, 2020
Drawn, colored, cut, and assembled by hand.
5.25” h x 6.5” w x 7” l ref: crown #6
contact to purchase: beth@local-art-ideas.com or 917-374-7516
tax and shipping added at time of purchase.
from the artist: i love this crown. it's so wonderfully weird. perhaps the most delicate of all of them (the fern illustrations were a bear to cut out!), ephemeral I contains drawn columbine flowers, ferns, a snake that squiggles through the middle of the crown, and pearls set in sterling silver and aluminum wire. when i was making this crown, i was thinking about my time in the pacific northwest. capturing the density and color palette of their ancient forests was important in this crown. ferns were everywhere, as well as wildflowers, and yes, we did see a snake or two. it was a strange landscape that i had never experienced before. i loved it.
the shape of the crown is perhaps the most unusual of all of them. it was directly influenced by two atavistic crowns: the crown of lombardy and the crown of bavaria. the crown of lombardy is one of the first insignias and is a simple band that is said to be held together with an iron circlet hammered from a nail used on jesus from the cross. the gems on the hammered gold panels on the outside of it form flowers, much like my crown. it is considered a reliquary, a holy object from the past, and was made long ago in the early middle ages.
the crown of bavaria is shaped exactly like ephemeral I. the story of the crown is pretty interesting as well--the main diamond was stolen, and was replaced with glass. despite this loss, it is still considered priceless. it is a physical manifestation of maxilmilian I, king of bavaria, and therefore part of history. like the crown of lombardy carries the nail from the cross. like my crown contains my memories of the giant, ever-green forests in the pacific northwest.