Hummingbird - Silver Pendant with Emerald
Hummingbird - Silver Pendant with Emerald
2 5/8" x 1 1/4"
Carved and chased. With lab emerald.
"The hummingbirds eye came from me thinking of people bird watching, and wondering if the hummingbirds are watching us too. [Inspiration] came from the vibration of their wings when they fly, and how it looks like there's multiple wings on each side. That idea kind of morphed into two heads, like what you see when they quickly move back and forth and its tough to see with the naked eye." - Gus Cook
This piece was created for the exhibition ‘Messages of Joy: Depictions of Hummingbirds in Northwest Coast Jewellery’ held at Lattimer Gallery between September 24 – October 8, 2022.
Gus Cook
CULTURAL GROUP:
Kwakwaka'wakw
BORN:
February 28, 1982
BIRTHPLACE:
Alert Bay, BC
Gus Cook has been mentoring with Kwakwaka’wakw artist Rande Cook since 2011, working in copper, and using chasing and repoussé techniques. In August of 2012, Gus was commissioned through Lattimer Gallery to complete a large copper repoussé panel for an international mining company. In 2017, Gus had his first solo exhibition at Steinbrueck Gallery in Seattle. In 2019, he was featured in the landmark publication Understanding Northwest Coast Indigenous Jewelry by author Alex Dawkins. The process of repoussé involves pressing a series of punches of different shapes and sizes into the underside of a piece of metal, giving the front of the piece a three-dimensional quality. This meticulous form of metalwork is then refined on the front side with chasing techniques.
