Lapis

Articulation

A salt, a fracture, a rift in an ancient core, that grows to death. This sequence reveals a snapshot along a fatal journey of splintering. To splinter – to rupture: in slits of sharpened stress.

Each etching is the product of growth, a force acting to expand and contract the core. They are signatures of a tenacity that is erratic, chaotic, yet persistent.

Production

Lapis results from a variable rule set. A matrix is filled with a thousand stars, each affected by a similar desire to resolve to the next, yet actively disrupted by a waving effervescent force. The stars dance along the wave, as fragmented splinters of a persistent form, resulting in a calligraphy of etched webs.

Vocabulary

The Iron Masters of West Africa, expressed this waving force in practice. The Iron Master’s role is one of transformation, they take on a responsibility of finding stresses in materials to construct form. They negotiate with the earth, the trees, the stones and sands, engaging in various meditative ceremonies. Where the forge is fed, the bellows put to work, and the ore massaged. The vocabulary of this ancient science is stress. The expression of the Masters, like »Lapis,« reveals the effect of controlled fracturing.