The most direct reference to place is found in my locational lockets. As the first piece I created with the idea of ‘gifts for the future’, I reference the tradition of lockets holding a photo of the giver and the receiver. In this case, the giver is not me, but this point in time.

The lockets are constructed from die-formed brass with a porous, fiber wheel surface. Set inside them is a photo decal enamel depicting a place emotionally close to me where there is a body of water, and a stone taken from that place. The enamel landscape is representative of current time and location, the giver. I leave the lockets in the locations depicted in them, in order to age and interact with nature. The porous surface will patina, the die formed ovals will dent, and the world around the piece will change and grow as places do. There is no picture of nature, the future, enameled in the locket. The natural world, in concert with time, draws itself over the surface. The only constant in these pieces is the stone, protected by the metal locket, keeping the same shape and surface as the day it was polished.

The locations I chose for these lockets have both been significant to me at different points in my life. Lake Shore Reservation near my home, with its rocky shore covered in driftwood and detritus, is a location tied to many of my earliest memories. The second location, Wade Lagoon, is emblematic of the Cleveland Museum of Art, and represents a transition point between my childhood and college life. I went from going to the museum on occasion when I was young, taking classes in the basement, to living within walking distance and visiting often.