Hide and Sustenance
Dimensions: 4 x 2.5 x 1 inches
sterling silver, copper, dyed rabbit fur and hide, silk cord
2024

Hide and Sustenance borrows from the visual anatomy of a traditional jewelry locket—ellipse, frame, cord, clasp, and bale—to evoke visceral encounters with a dandelion as its muse. The piece emulates the flower’s bright yellow color using dyed rabbit fur, framed as a miniature portrait. The fur beckons to be touched like a lucky charm, the dandelion gone to seed beckons to be picked and blown away with wishes. On the reverse, an illustrative young dandelion is hand engraved, symbolizing a vital food source for animals and at one time humans. In late winter and early spring, the hardy dandelion is one of the first greens to appear, providing essential and sometimes life-saving nutrients. Today in the Northeast suburban landscape crepuscular wild rabbits and ordinary dandelions proliferate and are nearly impossible to tame, but need they be?

Dandelions: An Intergenerational Conversation of Jewelry and Weeds, curated by Steven Kaplan-Pistiner, gave me the opportunity to explore the history and botany of this plant, remembered fondly in childhood yet perceived as a pesky weed in adulthood. I discovered that the dandelion has an impressive ability to reproduce, not only through pollination but also by cloning. Though not native to the U.S., it was brought over from Europe during colonization and proved even hardier than the humans who introduced it. Within just three years, it had spread up and down the entire coastline, thriving by the mid-1600s. Indigenous peoples soon began incorporating the dandelion into their diets and utilizing its potent medicinal properties. The dandelion is seral, meaning it is one of the first plants to naturally colonize a landscape that has been disturbed by fire, flood or human intervention, playing a crucial role in helping ecosystems regenerate. I believe humans have much to learn from this humble flora.

Heather White is a contemporary jewelry artist, professor, Fulbright Scholar, lecturer, and curator based in Boston where she serves as Professor of Art at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. She holds a B.F.A. from the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence and an M.F.A. from the State University of New York at New Paltz. White has won multiple prestigious awards and exhibited internationally. Her pieces are represented in the permanent collections of notable museums, including the Museum of Art and Design in New York City, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Mint Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina. White resides in Boston with her husband, two children, and their dog.