This piece from Anja Mattila-Tolvanen weighs lots so I was doubly curious. It is not marked for any of my specific projects, so assume it is meant as a stand alone exchange.
To me this piece is both a crown of screws which has particular connotations as well as a sun which has another set. I like the ambiguity, the way it allows me to bring my own mood, context and outlook to the piece, the way the positive and the negative intermingle and sit side by side.
Once long ago when I still lived in Africa I traveled with some visiting American friends to the north of Kenya on a camping safari. It was a low budget affair where we traveled on a bus and pitched tents by night. In Turkana the young women were selling their exquisite fertitlity necklaces. These were made of natural materials and festooned with beads. Although it felt a bit wrong I couldn't help but buy one. I was in love with the girls, the necklaces, Kenya, and with a man who I would later marry. The real shame was that instead of keeping it and treasuring it, looking at it for ever and ever, I gave it away. Sadly the person I gave it to didn't understand it, and it was put out with the rubbish. I still mourn it and feel sad that I didn't protect it, and honor the maker appropriately. Anja's piece is like an urban fertility necklace, to me.
Anja, your piece must have been shaken a bit in transport. I will do my best to re-glue it. Then I will look at it and share it. Many thanks!
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