"Twelve Hours of Your Time", Silk and Steel, 11x5x5 inches, 2024
I saw the Silkworm Pavilion by Neri Oxman and was inspired, so I raised my own army of silkworms and used them to create delicate jewelry pieces. I 3D modeled a tower with replaceable tops that perfectly fit bent steel hoops.
I was very focused on the silkworm's comfort while remembering that I couldn't let them all breed due to the amount of food necessary to sustain their offspring. So I only took 12 hours of their spinning time out of the 7 days total that they're in their spinning stage, and I prevented the majority of them from breeding by placing them in a separated paper apartment complex. I only introduced one pair for breeding purposes. As of this writing, I'm about to hatch the third generation.
This is very different from traditional silk farming where the silkworms are boiled alive in their cocoons to harvest their silk.
Detail of Earrings
Detail of Pendant
I named all my silkworms Steve. Click on the image for a video of Steve at work
When each of my silkworms entered their silk spinning stage, roughly 8 weeks after hatching, I placed one on top of the Rapunzel tower.
3D model of Tower
