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that endeavor, concluding that wood simply was not
materially suited to withstanding the kinds of stresses
exerted on small, thin bands. He has also produced a
series of necklaces inspired by Norwegian artist Liv
BlÄvarp's masterful use of wood in her vibrant, ribbed
neckpieces, though given to a quieter, more intimate
aesthetic through beads and podlike pendants of
ebony or African blackwood inlaid with silver wire.
The majority of DiCaprio's wearable wooden art
has, however, been earrings and brooches. Initially
conceived as if they were "extensions of the body
coming through your clothes" the earliest brooches
were ebony half domes, some with narrow mouthlike
openings studded with scores of tiny wire teeth.
Elongate examples rising to smooth ridges at their axes
suggested the dorsal regions of logging whales barely
breaking the plane of an ocean.
"It would take a collector to wear them,
DANIEL DICAPRIO. Photograph by Marion DiCaprio.
PROCESS SHOT OF NEW GROWTH BROOCH of holly with
micro-carving gouges, dimension of finished brooch, 7.6
centimeters, 2014.
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, studio space at Cary Street Studios, 2014.