Sita Syamini
Through material excavation, I create glass installations and jewelry landscapes with gemstones that I mined from different locations in America. The stones are encased in borosilicate, soft and recycled glass using traditional and non-traditional glassblowing and flameworking techniques.
Each stone embodies a unique behavior to molten glass: some will encase perfectly, while others crack, off-gas and explode. The reactions in the glass form a treasure map of my material expedition. Collecting stones from the earth specific to the places I inhabit, allows me to navigate my identity and activate my body into a landscape.
Growing up multiracial, with my mother being Pakistani and British and my father being Native American and African American has made it difficult for me to find a sense of belonging. Documenting my travels guides me to see the beauty in being from many cultures. Harvesting my own materials helps me understand my place within nature. My interest in alchemy pushes me to experiment with a range of materials.
Each design brings awareness to the waste in our environment, the exploitation of landscapes, and the connection between the body and nature. The accumulation of glass gems reveals a landscape that highlights the strength and fragility of the environment. Transfiguring salvaged glass and rare minerals to adorn the body is a prime element in making what we deem precious, completely unrecognizable. After permanently manipulating the gemstones in glass, they no longer shine as they did before.
Does the value of the gemstones change now that they are destroyed inside glass?
