DRESSED TO KILL
© Kathy Williams. All Rights Reserved.
“Dressed To Kill” is disturbing and virtually medieval in its appearance and its inherent challenge to protect and kill at once. It is desperately over-protected and over-armed with its overlapped metal securely riveted in place, revealing no vulnerable gaps in its full-body protection. I strapped bullets into a bundle to become the “stem” of this chalice. The base is constructed of precariously stacked cast sterling silver shrapnel.
Over eons of warfare, weapons have evolved as defense has strengthened. This has occurred in the same manner as in the medieval period when swords were made longer and thinner to exploit tiny weak spots in the enemy’s armor. But on the other hand, nothing has changed except our qualities of courage, honor, loyalty, and consideration for others. We fight a dishonorable battle. Our opponents have been reduced to targets. Our conflicts are remote and not nobly inspired. Reminiscent of the dishonorable dagger hidden in the Medieval warriors’ clothes, we attack our enemy when they least expect it.
HAND TO HAND
© Kathy Williams. All Rights Reserved.
“Hand To Hand” symbolizes violence and a selfish, short-sightedness for the future of mankind. And, I believe it is the most dramatic chalice in the series. I hand-raised a sterling silver cup and then planished the surface.
I carved an ebony handle and adorned the end with a cast sterling silver crown-like finial. I positioned the handle inside the chalice and only the silver crown rises above the lip. The handle pierces through the bottom of the cup and transitions into the blade of the dagger which becomes the “stem” of this drinking vessel.
The steel blade is as wide and thick as a silver dollar. The coarsely ground, beveled edges run down either side and taper to a point.
Specially designed to be formidable, my dagger features metal embellishments, beyond the blade, for tearing and ripping through flesh. I positioned a cast piece at the base of the cup surrounding the blade with pointed teeth. Authentically fearsome, my dagger chalice is also graceful and elegant as a work of art and informed by traditional metalsmithing in its mastery and beauty.
AS YOU WISH
© Kathy Williams. All Rights Reserved.
I chased and repousséd sterling silver into an olive branch wreath that encircles the crown chalice.
This hopeful offering of peace and goodwill adorns many crowns in world history.
I made this stem-less chalice so we commoners may hold the precious crown in our hands and raise it to our lips. It rests on its side, comfortable on a stack of luxurious silk and velvet pillows. Silver oak leaves, symbolizing strength, hang like tassels from the highest pillow. To drink from this majestic head adornment would surely be sacrilegious or, at the very least, a serious breach of royalty etiquette. I imagine the next words you heard would be, “Off with her head!”
DEATH SPIRAL
© Kathy Williams. All Rights Reserved.
I made a chalice out of money. I printed paper money and cut it into long strips. Shaping sterling silver wire,
I created a spiral and attached the printed money fragments in a lacey pattern to form the tall cup of this chalice. For the base, to emphasize the human element, I wanted to make something small and personal that we keep nearby. I decided on a coin purse. I linked dimes with u-shaped, balled, silver wire connections to form a flexible coin purse. Sterling silver frames the opening and prominently displays a sterling silver clasp. I left the coin purse intentionally unlined to imply the sieve allowing money to flow through our possession. The spiral of money reaches down into the coin purse and attaches to a silver dollar that is resting on the bottom.
SIGNS OF LIFE
© Kathy Williams. All Rights Reserved.
This is my favorite chalice. Maybe because it is about life and hope. It was the most difficult chalice to conceive. How could I make a drinking vessel appear to stand in for the will to go on, the most powerful, innate human instinct? I found it difficult to encompass life, its fragility, tenacity and precariousness. Considering the words “self- preservation,” “will to survive” and comparing them to “perpetual motion,” I realized the similarities. In physics, things are in perpetual motion until an obstacle stands in their way. To simplify this phenomenon, I decided to make a perpetual motion toy for the chalice base; a spinning top, turned on a lathe using the black wood of an ebony tree. I chose this variety of wood for its earthy, rich color and its durability. Also turned from ebony is an elegant, graceful stem appearing as delicate as the stem of the finest crystal wine glass. It appears dark as the earth, fragile and stretching, as if reaching to the ground for stability and then finding its connection with the spinning top.
An Ostrich egg is a perfect, compact life-support vessel able to withstand over 300 pounds of weight from the mother ostrich. Starting with a hollow shell, I chipped off one tiny piece at a time to eventually form the cup. The interior has a perfect aura, delicately stained by the embryo of life it once supported.
Life is living in the balance, spinning like a spinning top, requiring perpetual motion. Life depends on this cycle.
