The latest offering in the Interstitial Arts Foundation's benefit "jewelry auction" is the gorgeous piece above by our own Helen Pilinovsky -- who, in addition to being a fairy tale and mythic literature scholar, co-editor of Cabinet des Fées, and a reviewer here at Endicott, is also a professional jewelry maker and silversmith. The necklace was inspired by Veronica Schanoes' brilliant adult-fairy-tale story 'Rats,' published in the IAF's anthology Interfictions.
Here's what Helen has to say about the piece: " 'Rats' is a fairy tale inspired by a nightmare, a retelling of 'Sleeping Beauty' which overlays the death and life of Nancy Spungen, late of punk-rock legend. I read 'Rats' for the first time in the spring of 2006, I think, knowing nothing about Nancy Spungen or Sid Vicious - all I knew was that it was a beautiful, mind-blowing, heart-breaking revision of a fairy tale that had never really appealed to me. The innate passivity of 'Sleeping Beauty' had ticked me off since I was a child (maybe I was too influenced by an early reading of Hamlet: the line that always rang in my subconscious following her curse was 'were it not that I have bad dreams'). I could never figure out why she’d been so quick to trust, why she’d sought out the tender prick of the spindle in the first place. But, give our heroin(e) a reason to seek the needle? I’m there. All I know is, 'Rats' made me cry, which almost never happens.
"Lily, Surrounded by Rats is made up of antique faceted gunmetal glass beads, twinned black stick pearls, and a luminous tear-drop of jelly glass found in a junk shop."
To bid on the piece, go here.
Comments