Dimensions:
22 x 3.5 x 1.5 inches [including cord]

Through my practice I often contemplate divination as a method of human inquiry that uses intuition and imagination instead of empirical data. Divination frequently involves imposing order onto random patterns in nature in order to decode obscure information about the meaning of past and present circumstances, or even to gain a glimpse of the future. I imagine this object as belonging to one of many methods of divination involving the dandelion, which was at times called the rustic oracle.

A pod-like form for the hand—thumbs pressed into earth, anticipating germination. Eight speculative gestures radiate like petals, poised to bear prophecy. Object lifted in the hand, dandelion seeds float on a breath and settle into the gentle hollows studded with glittering volcanic sand. Now collected into these ordered spaces, the seeds can be read intuitively for signs (like the tea leaves of tasseography or the entrails of haruspicy) that help us chip away at the terrifying uncertainty of life.

The object is composed of dark earth and black sand collected from a faraway shore. It is strung on a complex hand-braided cord of naturally black wool. The confluence of these corporeal, vegetal, and geological elements, shared by the cycle of all life on earth, conspire to imbue the piece with the sacred, vital aura essential to all “magical” objects.

Centering around materials—their physical, aesthetic, cultural, and evocative properties and potential—my practice explores the connections between the core components of human nature and the forms, objects, and materials we are drawn to. Through strategic material manipulations and juxtapositions, I examine the variegated methods of human inquiry and the sensation of wonder as products of our most fundamental needs and desires. Tapping into a deep shared imagination littered with the elemental phenomena, shapes, and substances that have permeated our visual and tactile experience of the world for millennia, my work often utilizes or references stone, shell, wood, and earth, and contrasts order with randomness in enigmatic ways that seek to activate our curiosity and create poetic and transporting moments.

Claire Webb is currently Assistant Professor of Jewelry and Metalsmithing at the University of Oregon in Eugene. She received an MFA from SUNY New Paltz in 2021 where she received an outstanding graduate award. She also received a Research and Creative Projects Award from SUNY New Paltz in both 2020 and 2021. In 2021 Claire was selected by Jodi Marie Smith for the Exhibitionist feature during New York City Jewelry Week. Most recently, she received a 1st place award for her piece in Transforming the Prototype at the Baltimore Jewelry Center. Claire’s research utilizes the expressive potential of unexpected material combinations and transformations to examine fundamental human needs and desires. She has exhibited with a number of institutions including Galerie Lewis in Quebec, Brooklyn Metal Works, Melton Gallery, and the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston.