Tooth for a Tooth
2004
Sterling silver, wood
Installation dimensions variable;
each shelf 1.75 x 4.5 x 2.5'';
each set of teeth approx. 1 x 2 x 2''

Slides 1-3:
From Maternal Metaphors I & II
Group exhibitions at
Rochester Contemporary, Rochester, NY and
Ohio University Art Galleries, Athens, OH

Slides 4-6:
From Tooth for a Tooth (Daily News)
Solo Exhibition at Phoenix Gallery, New York, NY

This installation consists of twelve pairs of dental casts resting on wooden niche shelves painted the same white as the walls.  The casts chronicle the falling out and growing in of my daughter's teeth over the course of a year from June 2000 to June 2001.  The embossed date on each set of teeth marks the day I took the original dental mold. Cast in sterling silver and formally displayed, the teeth are souvenir relics, serving as both memoir and memorial.

In an alternate version of the piece, hand-penciled text shadows the shape of an arched niche behind each set of teeth. The text records fragments of news about women and children as victims of violence. Like entries in a diary, each fragment begins with the date it appeared in the daily paper during the same year.

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