automaton #2: threshold

immediately upon finishing my first automaton, thoughts began assembling for the construction of another one, and i started filling up my notebooks and doing research. i knew that metal clay today's next challenge had to do with hinges, which i had never made, so i thought i should try to include that in the piece. that's what a challenge is for, after all! the design and emotion of the piece changed quite a bit from what i originally started with and ended up being somewhat autobiographical. this really surprised me, and i didn't realize it until a day or two after i had finished it.

everybody creates differently; for me, these automatons start with a profound emotion, usually generated by words, and i go from there. i felt this way about these words by eugene smith, which are on the back of the piece in fine silver: 

 

Every horizon, upon being reached, reveals another beckoning in the distance.  Alway, I am on the threshold.

  

in the personal effects of my son's late father, i found some words that he had written down from the artist marcus pearson, and i included them on the bottom of the little drawer that hides behind a scallop-hinged, map-encrusted, pearl-clasped door:  

Still, had I lived then, I'd like to think that I too, would have sailed in that ship of fools.

the talismans in the drawer are a fine silver tarot card (the fool), a tiny vintage child's toy compass/mirror, and a wee luna moth travel journal that i made and bound.

the authentic porthole is dingy and darkened and it is difficult to view what is inside until you open it and swing the tiny porthole clasp-handle to the side. now you are viewing a silver boat upon enameled blue waves that toss up and down as you turn the tiny crank. to make the boat more realistic, i hinged one of the sails so that it moves. 

threshold
fine silver, bronze, sterling silver, copper, vitreous glass enamel, pearl, paper,  found object
kimberly nogueira 2011

threshold
fine silver, bronze, sterling silver, copper, vitreous glass enamel, pearl, paper,  found object
kimberly nogueira 2011

threshold
fine silver, bronze, sterling silver, copper, vitreous glass enamel, pearl, paper,  found object
kimberly nogueira 2011

threshold
fine silver, bronze, sterling silver, copper, vitreous glass enamel, pearl, paper,  found object
kimberly nogueira 2011

as a crazy 27 yr old, i came here from new england to this tropical island for a vacation with dreams in my eyes. seventeen years later i am still here. among other things, i put that journey into this automaton.