Italy, Florence, Alchimia, Scuola di Gioielleria Contemporanea, 2018

Equanimity – ‘a calm mental state, especially after a shock or disappointment or in a difficult situation’

I have been working with fasteners such as nails, staples and screws to transform them into chains and surfaces. For me, chains symbolise protection and demonstrate power.

These fasteners act as small units of feeling and thought, interlinked in a way that is relieving: connecting them implies the release of frustration, regaining balance and accepting the present. Connecting one nail, two, then three… to two thousand one hundred and thirty-three, to create one piece.

We all crave control, to have the ability to change events. We will never have full control over everything but we can learn to accept the flaws of life, to be at peace with ourselves and find beauty in the imperfections.