Dearest Mine: Photo Lockets and Wearable Dreams: For Keep's Sake
• For me, creating photo and art lockets goes beyond just the surface level of wanting to create unique jewelry with art and photos. For me, these tiny treasures are keys of inspiration and meaning that fuel my fire and ignite my passion for what I do. Here’s a glimpse into my world of lockets and into the mind of Lori, the Locketeer:
The purpose of a photo is that it captures a moment…and the purpose of jewelry is to adorn the wearer with their own personal expression. Many times, what you wear is who you are…who you are with a moment. We tend to identify with captured moments, like a rainy day, a hot air balloon, an enchanted forest, a vacation spot or even an image of a bee. These images elicit an emotional and imaginative response in the wearer to help them express who they really are. And most people can’t really find a deep way to express themselves, but art mixed with jewelry can give them a special freedom for expression.
Lockets have a secret message inside…that’s why they’re lockets. Once opened up, there’s a treasure inside. Ultimately it’s a truly human expression. We show on the outside what we want people to see, but keep on the inside only what we know. Lockets represent the deepest part of the human self…the outside and inside together.
We long to be identified with those things that are larger than ourselves. We can never be or have all the things we want, but we can live vicariously through the greater themes of life: love, joy, longing, beauty, art, truth. These things resonate deeply within each of us and when we can be identified with those things, our life matters in a new way. I know it’s only jewelry, but it’s transcendent…it’s more personal than even the clothes we wear because “the image always fits”.
Lockets have a sense of history. What I am is identified with something long ago. The art you wear on your locket becomes part of the message. It’s as if we’re saying “we were there”. When you read great novels, it stays with you for a very long time. But it’s hard to express it in a bite-sized format. But photography and art transcend the novel into a snapshot…”A picture is worth a thousand words”. My photo lockets speak volumes without saying a single word.
It’s visceral, physicalized, emotional…you react to it…it evokes. The interesting thing about wearing a locket is that you can’t see what you’re wearing, but others can- and that knowledge changes everything. You know you’re sending your own Morse Code that everyone can read. Words only communicate with those you understand them, but images communicate to all who see them. Pictures are the universal language of the heart…akin to music.
*Art is visual music, stirring the soul through the eyes. As my collaborator, Irene Suchocki, said it so well, my lockets are “poetry for the eyes”.
Follow me on Instagram: @DearestMine
Visit my other shops on Etsy:
www.supplybakery.etsy.com
www.madisonmink.etsy.com
