“Reincarnation” crown on the White Peacock doll. I made and shot this piece a few months ago in grief and in celebration of the life, to get through a terrible and painful loss that I’ve been stuck in. It was inspired partially by a wondrous and transformative dream I dreamt many years ago, and partially by Alex Garland’s film ‘Annihilation’, that struck a chord with that dream.

This crown is constructed from my antique jewelry collection containing 24k yellow gold, 18k rose gold, 14k and 10k yellow gold, 0.8k worth of antique cut diamonds, antique glass enamel, Chinese export enamel, mother of pearl, rubies, hand blown glass.

I wanted to transform a bunch of separate parts into a ‘whole’ that was greater than the sum of its parts, to process and make sense of inner turmoil and trauma. I’ve been making art for almost 4 decades, and only just now began to realize that it’s my coping mechanism. Perhaps that’s why people say that all my dolls look sad. I’ve only just began to see it.