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27 ORNAMENT 38.1.2015 The reverse sides of these early brooches were inset with silver wire, inserted flush with the surface to create constellations of bright dots against the velvety ebony. Generally known only to the wearer, these stellar compositions added a degree of intimacy and preciousness to the work, but DiCaprio began to question their secretive nature as perhaps governed more by convention than any other factor. "We had always been taught to make the back of a brooch as important as the front," he explains. "It was about creating a sentimental space. But it seemed to me that everyone I knew was working that way, creating the front and a secret back space, so I thought about how I could bring the brooch off the body—make it less about that hidden space and more about a form emerging from the body. The brooches have become conical so that only a small part is hidden. That little secret space is revealed." In addition to these conical, trumpetlike brooches—biomorphic abstractions that seem to writhe like beached lampreys or languish with limp abandon, like deflating bagpipe reservoirs—DiCaprio has explored slender twig-shaped forms with bulbous mid-sections. A native of Upstate New York, he gathered fallen limbs from apple orchards near his hometown to create the Grafted Brooches, composites of applewood, ebony and silver that reflect on "adaptation, evolution and man's influence on nature." Each of these brooches, six to eight inches (15.2 to 20.3 centimeters in length) terminates in a loop at one end and a bar at the other to suggest parts of a toggle clasp. The relatively rigid nature of the wood, however, clearly prevents the two halves of the clasp from ever uniting. "I wanted to suggest that even if we modify trees through processes like grafting, there's a limitation to what we can do," Dicaprio explains. "Man can intervene in nature but can't change it into something that it's not—and you can't change these brooches into necklaces." DiCaprio's recognition that, in the end, nature will have its way reflects his experience working with different kinds of wood, each with its own strengths and limitations, the latter of which cannot be disregarded without consequence. The dense grain of ebony and holly makes carving less likely to produce cracks, even when one works against the grain. Dark and uniform, ebony provides a superb ground for silver inlay, while the pale bone color of holly makes that wood excellent for coloration with bright aniline dyes. DiCaprio also favors lemonwood and the self-lubricating Argentine lignum vitae, dense enough to sink in water. Applewood presents some of the greatest challenges, but its cracks can be filled with epoxy and sawdust, and such natural aberrations as knotholes can be dealt with through responsive design. Applewood has some advantages as well. "All fruitwoods—apple, cherry, pear—are resilient," DiCaprio notes. "Metalsmiths use them in the handles of chasing hammers, because they VITAE EARRINGS of lignum vitae, twenty-two karat gold, fourteen karat gold, 7.6 centimeters, carved wood with metal wire inlay, 2011.