Quercus spilth, Sandcast Aluminum Bronze, with Sterling Silver and Brass, 2025
At its core, Quercus Spilth is a meditation on resilience, transformation, and the hidden beauty in discarded materials. This sculptural necklace is cast from reclaimed electrical cable, aluminum cans, and brass wire—materials that might otherwise have been ignored, forgotten, or sent to landfill. Through the sandcasting process, these remnants are transformed into bronze forms that echo the organic voids and hollows found in live oak trees, paying homage to nature’s cycles of decay and renewal.
The suspended rings of the necklace shift with the wearer, grounding them in the spiraling growth of the oak. Each movement becomes a reminder of resilience, change, and the interconnectedness of life. True to its name—Quercus (oak) and spilth (filth or rubbish)—the piece reclaims waste as a site of possibility, illustrating how beauty can emerge from what we often discard.
Creating Quercus Spilth is as much about process as product. Scavenging materials from the environment, stripping cables, shaping aluminum and brass, and carefully pouring molten bronze into sand molds requires patience, care, and attention to the unexpected. The textures, voids, and imperfections that arise during sandcasting are embraced, mirroring the irregularities and unpredictability of nature itself.
This necklace is more than adornment—it is a reflection on stewardship, transformation, and flourishing. By turning discarded materials into wearable art, Quercus Spilth invites reflection on our relationships with the environment, with the objects we consume, and with the resilience inherent in growth and change. It is a celebration of possibility, a wearable meditation, and a reminder that even in filth, life and beauty can thrive.