Jewelry

Sterling silver, Textured, Engraved, Repoussé, Chased
Hinged with Sterling silver Catch
2015

“Exploring one’s roots brings a healthy appreciation of one’s place in the scheme of things. The Pacific Northwest Coast (PNC) formline has undergone changes over the passage of time. What I wanted to do was to pay homage to that earlier, cleaner, straightforward, massive look of PNC art because it captures the sense of that era’s time. I learned from what work they left behind and so it impacts the work I do today.

In this bracelet, a mixture of modern techniques – repoussé, chasing, engraving, texturing, fabrication – has been added to a deceptively simple facial image that’s present on early traditional bent-boxes; a face thought to represent a supernatural guardian of any treasures contained within the box.

For me, and for this exhibition, this style of PNC imagery depiction on a bracelet seemed to be something that had a sense of inevitability because I have such admiration and respect for ancient PNC artists”

-Lyle Wilson, 2016