Gwybod

Gwybod is a great word that’s fun to say. It means ‘to know’. I immediately saw a pouchy shape, with a mouth. It feels sort of creepy to me. A bit sinister. I knew this had to be a cast piece as I wanted it to be durable (metal), 3 dimensional and look a little organic. Being a literal sort, and wanting an egg-like shape, I started with a quail egg.  I blew the egg out, then repeatedly dipped the eggshell into molten jewellers’ wax. I ended up with a hen’s egg sized alien-looking drippy form. I spent a happy day paring back the wax with a curved scalpel, as I needed it to be light enough to be feasibly cast into metal. I cut a ‘mouth’ into it, and carved it to loosely look like a lip. I scrubbed the surface with a wire brush for a contrast in texture. I decided on a long hanging pendant, as I wanted it to have a spooky, talismanic kind of feel.

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While I was cutting holes to pass a chain through I thought it’s be fun to have optional additions to it that would change the meaning. So I cut an extra hole. I had one cast in silver and a few in brass so I could experiment and give them different finishes. Trial finishes included oxides, glitters, ultra-black pigments and patinas. In the end, the silver I gave a brushed back oxidised finish. Inside I applied some intense glow in the dark pigment which gives the perfect eeriness. There is a piece that can be inserted that simply caps the hole, called ‘dim’ – that changes the piece to meaning ‘know nothing’, there is another with a large rainbow striped felt ball called ‘popeth’, changing the meaning to ‘know everything’.