Brass, Cats-eye garnet
35cm x 7cm
Lost wax casting, metal forming

This piece is an hommage to my dads ancestral origins of Pangasinan which is in the Ilocos region of the Philippines. Pangasinan is rich in superstition and tales of witchcraft. The evil eye was said to be able to curse anyone it laid its eyes on.

I wanted to explore how I can allude to the powers of the eye. The challenge was to create a piece that required intention or activation which is a contrast from the traditional passive and protective nature of most amulets. My solution was to make lashes that pivoted over the eye; the blinking of the eye.

Wax was melted onto a cats-eye garnet and was shaped once cooled. The design of the lashes takes from pre-colonial Filipino gold adornments. Brass wire was twisted into itself to allude to rope.