'Cat's Cradle' Pendant

At the end of July I will board a plane and travel to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in Canada to attend the EMMA 'Unplugged' 2012 International Collaboration.  About 100 artists from Canada, the United States, New Zealand and the United Kingdom will converge the evening of July 29th for the Gala Reception of the Decoy Exhibition.  Held at the Saskatchewan Craft Council Affinity Gallery, the exhibition will contain works of the participating artists and will initiate the beginning of the International Collaboration. 

I have submitted a pendant titled Cat's Cradle as my Decoy entry for the Exhibition.  It is made of forged titanium and fused sterling.  The dimensions of the pendant are 2.6 x 2.25 x 0.6 inches. 

Cat's Cradle is a series of string figures created by an individual or between two people as a game.  In this game it is possible to form many different shapes using string that is supported by the fingers.  I am at once drawn to the imagery of weavers using their hands to create cloth.  I have always felt an interest in and awareness of where we all "come from".  How are things passed along and how do they fall away?  It is a puzzle, much like the cat's cradle, of how the pattern that is made is repeated and changed.  I liken our ancestors to hands manipulating the strings of their succeeding generations in order to create us, the patterns.  In my piece Cat's Cradle, we are at once the silver representing the string.  We are also the hands creating pattern.

Thank you for reading.  I look forward to your comments.  Charles