Kim Nogueira
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Kim Noguiera
imago mundi
2020. silver, copper, vitreous enamel, thread, antique Buddhist immortal bead, antique African trade bead
approx. 30” in length; each bead is approx. 1 inch in diameter & just under 1/2″ thick
Kim Noguiera
mundus imaginalis
Silver, copper, vitreous enamel, thread, antique Buddhist immortal bead, antique African trade bead
approx. 30” in length; each bead is approx. 1.25” in diameter and just over 1/2 of an inch thick
Kim Noguiera
vesica pisces
2020. silver, copper, vitreous enamel, thread, South Sea pearl
approx. 31” in length; each bead is 1.5 inches in diameter and is almost 3/4ths of an inch thick
Kim Noguiera
imago mundi
2020. silver, copper, vitreous enamel, thread, antique Buddhist immortal bead, antique African trade bead
Kim Noguiera
mundus imaginalis
Silver, copper, vitreous enamel, thread, antique Buddhist immortal bead, antique African trade bead
Kim Nogueira artist statement
“…there is a thinking in primordial images, in symbols which are older than the historical man, which are inborn in him from the earliest times, and, eternally living, outlasting all generations, still make up the groundwork of the human psyche..wisdom is a return to them.”
-C.G. Jung
In my art jewelry practice, I harness the dual forces of imagery and text from the historical record to intuitively craft a dream-like visual language in glass enamel and metal that embraces the mind and the imagination as a powerful mythopoetic tool for critical thinking, sentience and change, moving us forward metaphysically into the next chapter of our evolution. The method I work with transforms and fuses random imagery and text from the far-to-recent past into miniature multi-nuanced and overlapping frescos of meaning and speaks to the collective unconscious realm that we all share. My intuitively designed and layered narrative amulets extend an invitation to become a magician for a moment, an alchemist in reverie, a shaman dreaming a new world. They function as a bridge between the physical, material realm and the invisible, unseen and mysterious territory of the mind.
I believe that the next phase of our growth will involve reaching more deeply and profoundly into our imaginations, into the unseen realms of consciousness and the mind, strengthening our interconnectedness with each other and the earth. This will encourage the formation of new paradigms and ways of thinking to replace the current homogenized patriarchal corporatocracy with systems that are sustainable for all beings on the planet, leading to a transcendence of the material realms of space and time into a wonderland of new ideas and non-local possibilities.
It is a very sacred game we are playing here on Mother Earth. Each of my pieces can function as a touchstone, a cairn, a talisman, for soul retrieval, for awakening, for the journey back to remembering. I think of each as a miniature navigational atlas to the unseen, the unheard, the unknown: the world behind this world.
Process
The enameling process for making these mala bead strands is labor-intensive. Copper sheet is cut, formed, drilled and soldered to make each circular bead. Other shapes are formed using my hydraulic press and then cut, drilled and soldered. Layers of finely-ground glass enamel are applied multiple times to the copper forms (a combination of sifting and wet packing) and fired at very high temperatures in a kiln. I collect text and imagery from many different eras in history, using them to make my own iron oxide transfers, a time-consuming process. I painstakingly gather, cut and arrange the tiny narrative fragments onto the beads (this is a completely intuitive process), which are then fired in the kiln at high temperatures to fuse them. I add color to some of the imagery, painting them with overglaze pigments, and firing once more. And then I string them.