Rachelle Thiewes
Shimmer
2004
Silver and 18-karat palladium white gold
5 3/8 × 4 1/4 in.

The harshness of the light in El Paso intrigues Rachelle Thiewes, and she explores how to convey it in her metalwork. The kinetic quality of this bracelet was inspired by sunlight dancing on the dried, white leaves of Aspen trees in a mountain forest in nearby Cloudcroft, New Mexico. Thiewes experimented with various metals to re-create the tone-on-tone effect, landing on the muted white of silver disks suspended from an armature of bright white 18-karat palladium gold. This particular alloy of gold captures what Thiewes describes as the “shrieking” color of the desert sun.

Link to the Exhibition here