Birchbark Vertebrae Bone shape and Plastic tied together with coiled wire. Silver ear pieces
The "Facts of Life" Series consists of shaped earrings and necklaces that either represent or remind of physical human organs or body parts. They are small and delicate expressions of the way we inuitively connect with our bodies beyond biology and medical accounts and interventions. A critical claim to connectedness and sense of self.
Birchbark and Plastic Earrings, "Facts of Life" Series
The birchbark harvest happens mostly in the spring when the sap has started flowing through the trees again after resting in the roots for the winter. I carefully cut into the tree only deep enough to pull off a square piece no thicker than 1/8 of an inch and only partially around the trunk in order to preserve the tree's protective layer of inner bark. That way it can recover in good time and won't experience any lasting damage.