Ayala Naphtali, USA

In NYC, we have become accustomed to an alert system; a code red, orange or yellow notifies the public of the current level of a threat. On a daily basis, we’ve needed to develop a coping mechanism in order to live our lives. In 2020 my good friend Kathy passed away who taught kindergarten. She offered her kids a way to stratify the problem that was upsetting to them. She asked, “Is it a boulder, a rock or a pebble?” This sat with me… as a metalsmith, I probably spent one 10th of my life sanding something. I‘ve developed my own interpretation signifying the level of abrasion our news cycle can cause to my daily mental state: is it 60 or a 240 grit day? Can we hopefully have a 400 or even a 600 sometime soon? The necklace design of amulets as containers was inspired by an heirloom Druze wedding necklace shown to me by a longtime family friend Ataf, who I have known since I was 3 years old. She shared the necklace with me that was given to her, and explained that notes and or money would be placed inside to bestow good luck upon the bride. In my interpretation, bamboo amulets contain the different abrasive rolls or in current vernacular “doomscrolls” of grit.

This piece is dedicated to Kathy and Ataf, two of the wisest women I have known. Their memory helps me cope.