Anatomical Element

Radical Jewelry Makeover | Chicago: “Sympetalous Alba”

In keeping with my theme of educational art - This botanical piece has flowers with petals that appear fused or partially fused together. These types of flowers are called sympetalous. The botanical Latin term for white is alba.
Materials used: Post flower earrings with brass hoop jackets, ivory flower beads, brass wire from a necklace, chain & metal bead elements. Special donations by Donna Cook & Erin Ashmore.

It’s been a difficult 6 months for me as an artist, as a human. Creative energy has been ephemeral at best. But nevertheless I participated in a fun project called Radical Jewelry Makeover Chicago, a collaboration between and . Using donated jewelry and scrap materials, I completed 3 pieces that I am excited to share. If you’re in Chicago, come see the exhibition and all the creative new life we’ve given to unwanted jewelry!

“CN VII”
This brooch is representative of the face and specifically cranial nerve VII, also known as the facial nerve. It controls the muscles of facial expression. There are five major components on the brooch just as the nerve has five major facial branches. This special piece contains a yellow cufflink component of my late Grandmother Pauline’s.

I am very excited to share this special custom piece, infused with so much meaning! I create anatomical jewelry to start conversations & spread awareness, and this necklace does just that. Read Larissa's story below:

Larissa was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes as an infant and was not given a good prognosis. She proved her doctors wrong and outlived their grim predictions. At the age of 30 she was diagnosed with AMAG - Autoimmune Metaplastic Atrophic Gastritis which severely impacted her insulin and blood sugar regulation. After several years of fighting a losing battle she read about a pancreas transplant, spoke to her care team and although very rare at the time, got on the transplant list at Duke. Finally in 2016 Larissa received a successful pancreas transplant and the donor pancreas was transplanted vertically on her right side. Her own pancreas was left in place as it still makes enzymes to aid in digestion. Thanks to the selfless gift of organ donation, Larissa no longer has to take lab-made insulin and lives a full life. This necklace was created with the pancreas positioned vertically like her transplanted pancreas, but in the location of her own pancreas as they now work in tandem.