Donna Veverka

Temple, Cathedral, Castle, Arena – these words alone conjure images and places famous from books, movies and games we played as children. The importance of place is represented by the significance architectural spaces play in our lives; they are the settings for struggle, displays of wealth, entertainment, politics as well as spiritual life and memorials to death. We are reflected in the buildings we make, the ones we preserve and even by evidence of those we destroy.

Our connection to the built environment has long been the entry point to my work. My passion for architecture does not translate to the mere replication of famous buildings, rather, I have developed an iconography of place with the human at its center. A series of rings I have been making since 2005 are inspired by my love of ancient structures, an interest in archeology and a passion for history. I use my own travels as a means of creative research. When I travel, it is architecture that I seek out. Walking in a great cathedral, down a Medieval well or across a crumbling amphitheater, I can physically experience history. With these architectural rings, I want to take the vaulted ceilings or massive columns that towered over my head and distill them into portable icons that still evoke the essential experience of a place. I want my jewelry to create an intimate embodiment of the monumental aspect of architecture.
Through my work, I consider various ways in which jewelry becomes a talisman that can transport the wearer to a time and place of personal memory. A wearable object can refer both to History, and to visiting or inhabiting an ancient site. I explore how the sensory experience of certain materials: the weight, the tactile feel, the sense of scale, can allow one to have a conversation with the past.