By Eli Kosinski
Eve’s latest series, Endangered Species, grew in response to an ever-prevalent topic: the ongoing climate crisis, and the species affected by it. This body of work approaches this heavy topic with a necessarily healthy mixture of loving appreciation and forward-thinking seriousness. An example of the former is the reversible pendant “Slow and Steady,” which is crafted from sterling silver and jasper. One side of the pendant shows off gorgeous jasper, naturally patterned to resemble a landscape. The opposite side features a surprise sterling silver turtle, depicted mid-step. As a reversible pendant, this little reptile can be shown off or kept close to the chest. This aptly titled piece serves as a home for the crawling turtle; symbolically, within the context of the series, it could be taken as an encouragement to the benefits of any action, slow as the progress may seem. While some jewelry pieces celebrate the natural wonders of the world, others warn of the change needed to preserve them.
One such work is an entrancing pin titled “To a Vanishing World.” Currently, this pin hangs on a string of Burmese jade beads from New Zealand. This pin/pendant consists of two large slices of tourmaline set side-by-side in a fourteen karat white gold bezel. White gold also graces the front of the pin, creating an organic squiggle set with diamonds. On the bottom right side sits another large diamond, with its square-cut creating an interestingly angular contrast to the other organic forms of the piece. The diamonds on this pin total 0.07 carats in weight.
Everything about this pin draws the viewer’s eye in: from the glittering diamonds, to the attractive varying shades of green, to the unexpected shapes of stone and metal. Eve has set the translucent tourmaline above a flat sliver of mother of pearl to ensure that the green gets its moment. On top of the tourmaline, the white gold squiggle creates a fissure of negative space that highlights the delicate work needed to seam the tourmaline together. Though tourmaline can form into a variety of different colors with their own spiritual properties, green tourmaline is associated with physical healing, especially of the heart. Other bodily associations can be made with the overall shape of the connected tourmaline: the twin stone slices recall lung lobes (or, as the Gallery website calls them, butterfly wings). I like the idea of life suggested by both similes.
The butterfly description hints at the fleetingness of our familiar world warned by the pin’s title, while the lung interpretation reminds us of the creatures affected by that vanishing. The “Endangered Species” series title does not just refer to the animal kingdom as we may typically think of it. It includes humans. As Eve puts it, humans are a species too, and we are the instigators of the Anthropocene.
“The Anthropocene” is a title of another one of Eve’s pendants. It consists of a delightfully large cut of Siberian astrophyllite, which Eve purchased in Arizona.
This stone boasts earthy tones of reddish-brown, punctuated with angular black splinters of color. Set upon this stone is a gold relief memorializing the Pacific Ocean floating garbage patch; This traveling trash vortex mostly consists of microplastics and plastics. Eve has beautifully rendered this subject of plastic bottles, bags, and other discards of human innovation in yellow gold.
These three ideas transform a difficult reality into treasured items. Though the realization of endangered species and synthetic trash heaps present a bleak trajectory, Eve’s dedication to natural materials and lasting art provide an alternative outlook: an awareness of our belonging to the world and our potential positive impact.
