XENOPHORA

002

c r e a t i n g w i t h t h e c o l o r s o f f l e s h a n d e a r t h

A r e m i n d e r o f w i n t e r t h e r o m a n t i c i s m o f d e a t h

a n d d e c a y t h e c i t y w i t h i n m e , t h e c o m p o s i t i o n o f m y i n t e r n a l s o l a r

s y s t e m , g r a s s h a s g r o w n . . .

... over what I built

and it’s like the love that ivy makes with brick.

I can taste the ash from the decay of my former selves.

The etymology of the word XENOPHORA (pronounced zehna-fora) comes from the literal ancient greek translation, ‘carrier of foreign/strange objects’.

The Xenophora is an actual organism of the sea that collects forgotten objects such as debris, shells, rocks, etc. Whatever it attaches itself to, the objects and the sea mollusk become one. Once the object is attached, whatever it may be, begins to breathe just as the mollusk breathes and live just as the mollusk lives. These otherwise non-living and inanimate objects are overcome with a new surge of life and purpose. These objects become divinely apart of this carrier and the carrier becomes divinely apart of the objects.

We value this act of nature and hold it in high regard as being the philosophy of our brand as we look to provide a sort of second skin made of precious metals to our wearer. All of our objects are hand made and uniquely one of one. All objects are crafted by the hands of our maker. there are no two objects exactly alike and most objects are beyond the capability of replicating. We embrace this uniqueness of hand crafted products. just as no two beings are alike, we believe that no two jewels should be alike as well.The anfractuous textures that frequently occur on the surfaces of our objects tell a story that the maker holds within, which is to be considered her ‘visual poetry’. No two surfaces are alike... we act as novelists and world builders as we tell a unique story with our sinuousities.

as our story varies in octaves, tones and frequencies each piece will reflect this and have its own unique voice.

I w r o t e y o u a l o v e l e t t e r i n m e t a l , I s c u l p t e d m y t h o u g h t s o f y o u i n a n

a l l o y , u n i q u e t o y o u r b e i n g .

e l e m e n t a l m a d n e s s

I r e m e m b e r t h e s m o o t h n e s s o f t h e h a i r s o n t h e b a c k o f y o u r h e a d .

A n d h o w s u b t l y y o u r s c a l p h a s n u r t u r e d t h e f o l l i c l e s

i n t o e x i s t e n c e .

W h o a m I i n t h i s v a s t w o r l d o f t e r r o r ?

w h o a m I i n t h i s v a s t w o r l d o f e m p t i n e s s ?

i a m m y h a n d s

I a m t h e w o r l d s w h i c h f i l l m y m i n dt h a t n o o n e m a y e v e r s e e

I a m t h e w o r d s t h a t f i l l n o t e b o o k s t h a t n o o n e m a y e v e r r e a d

I a m m y h a n d s

I s u p p o s e m y m o u t h o f m e t a l i s t o o m u c h f o r y o u

t h e h o w l e c h o e s a n d f i l l s v o i d sI t i s t o o m u c h f o r y o u

t h e r i n g i n g i s i n y o u r e a r st h e f i r e w i t h i n m e b l i n d s y o u

I w a n t t o r e c e d e g o b a c k t o m y p r i m i t i v e

w h e r e r i t u a l r u l e d t h e w o r l d a n d o u r s c i e n c e ,

o u r q u a n t u m p h y s i c s a n d o u r b i o l o g y - w a s e n g r a v e d u p o n o u r

f l e s h l y w a l l s

I w a n t t o r e c e d e , g o b a c k t o m y p r i m i t i v e

w h e n t h e e l i x i r s o f l i f e w a s f o u n d e d i n o u r b l o o d

p e r s p i r i n g c r e a t i o nw h e r e g o l d f o r m e d

Aesthetics. the adornment of our bodies as temples

Remembering that all that which we clothe ourselves with become an extension of our spirits as above as within so below so without

everything in this universe is in a state of fluxso i work to capture that very spirit

in any particular time

there is beauty in imperfection and in ruin

I found beauty in the distressed and blistered metallic finish of your spirit and the natural patina of your aura

I remember your scent, it tasted like metallike gold - the seed of the sun rich like the earth’s soil

I wanted to die so that my ashes could live amongst you

I wanted to die so that the carbon from my bones could feel the intense pressure that I

experienced awake in this worldI wanted to die so that

this pressure took action on my carbonso that

I became a diamondso that you could worship me

like i worship you

so sacrificial in a way that you could never understand

after a moment of divinity with you,

why do you disappear?you've evaporated into once thin air. it is now thick

and I can see faint hues of your flesh.

divine happenings, close whispers, talks of passion and cries of fragrance as you listen to my howls at the moon.

where did you go? is it just how things of this lifetime happen,

so I can steal your clothes, so that I can catch your scent I hang up your stolen garment in the back of my wardrobe just to stink up my own silks, linen and fine cottons

or so I can wear it and write love letters, only to never send. So that they have

no life outside of what was once yours, me and this dreaded pen but I take it off and return it to the back of my wardrobe

So that your aromas hanging onto the woven fibers don't loosenI catch a few notes in my pores

and try to mimic the chemical composition of your scentyou've gone and all I have is the chemical structure of your spirits

flavoryour broad shoulders have now become hexagonal figures

shapes of honeycomb and your blood, your blood has become the honey

because I can’t seem to remember your face

where did you go? after a moment of

divinity

I feel weightless as we become intoxicated on life a poison that we indulge in together

life that is.Senses are heightened as the absinthe touches the back of our

throatsonly for a moments time, that moment of quickening

bella donna, as my pupils dilate --I can compare that moment to you. --

a quickening

[and my stubborn mind won't let me forget its constant reminder of your scent’s chemical structure

and I am no chemistonly half poison, half God

I am pacing, hoping to stumble over the edge of a cliffto forever fall in your grace

I should really send these letterseither to you or to this flame

as I am bella donna and God, a poison with no name]

what is metal? - the earth in response to the cosmos.

you work in metals, what does this make you? - I am too, the earth in response to the cosmos.

i see a lot of texture throughout your objects. what is your affinity with texture?

- I see my objects as pieces of visual poetry, the sinuous textures and curves are representative of a cryptic

language that tells the vivid tale.

why metal? -i feel the most connected to metal... to silver and to gold, the alloys and bronze. I love the poetry in the alchemical transforma-tion that metal endures. I carve the metal or the wax, i shape it with my hands. metal has a natural symbiosis, it changes with time and with wear... it becomes a part of you.

i breathe in so many silver dust particles that I imagine adorning the air space with silver each time i exhale.

and at my death, my lungs will most likely be plated with silver.

my collar bone, a sacred place, there is a casting

filled with minerals and ash. and I am all that i’ve ever wanted to

be in this world of mine

An echo of forgotten loved ones, filling my soulwith past happenings. I no longer want.

I trace the outline of your pursed lips carved fromgodly matter.

The coolness of the concrete transitions and every turn of texture becomes a single note

in this hymn of pure vibration.

I wish that i could tell this story but my words begin to crystallize

a mineral composition, compacted and held togetherby divination and magic

Amber eyes a cigarette resting in between my fingers

a mudraa gallery of darkness falls beneath my rib cage

becoming the soil of my desires

Black, the color of my soul I am filled with

everything and nothing all at once

scently speaking tobacco, honey, myrrh and whiskey

a descendant into my pores a warmness cloaks me

an alchemist transforming elements and

transforming sadness-

Phase 002 object materiality

.925 Sterling Silver The metal of the moon

highly reflective and pure - with a juxtaposition of sulfide oxidation to show that within beauty balance must occur

23 karat gold The metal of the sun

the seed of life which happens to appear at what seems like random on certain objects

Raw lava stone basalt. the stone of the earth

a primitive stone that recollects the past lives of our earth and spirits

raw uncut black diamond Cosmic earth matter

The stone that personifies the symbiosis of the cosmos and the earth and its magic

‘stellar’ ring

.925 oxidized sterling silver

‘summit’ ring


‘decayed’ ring


‘Citrinitas’ rings

.925 oxidized sterling silver23 karat gold

‘carved and stacked’ ring


‘Massive’ ring


‘fragmented I’ ring


‘Lava’ pendant

.925 oxidized sterling silverbasalt/volcanic lava stone

‘the magician’ ring

.925 oxidized sterling silverraw black diamond

‘chrysanthemum’ ring


‘Xenophora tribe’ ring


‘Ouroboros ring


‘folie á deux’ double-finger ring


‘void’ ring


‘grail’ ring


‘carved’ ring


‘carrier’ ring


‘balance‘ ring


‘mountains’ ring


‘ectoplasm’ ring


‘particle’ ring


‘transformation’ ring


‘sacred’ ring


‘Ouroboros’ wrist object


‘simbi’ pendant


‘i am my hands/mudra’ pendant


‘I am my hands/primitive’ pendant


‘talisman’ pendant


‘suspension’ ring

.925 oxidized sterling silver rutilated quartz

‘serpentine’ wrist object


‘mercurius’ wrist object


Photographer JEROME WALD IIIAssistant to creative director and styling JADE LAUREN HOMICZModel AMBER LOCKE

All designs and text are created/written by the designer and owner of XENOPHORA, Karissma Yve. All images and designs are owned by XENOPHORA, LLC

Copyright © 2014 by XENOPHORA

All rights reserved. No part of the material protected by thiscopyright may be reproduced and/or utilized in any form without written permission from the copyright owner.

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