Series I

1920. Hilma traverses forests and fields frantically, recording in her notebook every type of plant and animal that she encounters. Next to their corresponding date and Latin name, she stamps a small, colorful cross: a personal translation of that living being into a mysterious handful of traits.

The drawing of a bulbous buttercup and a house spider is what inspires this earring, though we are not as amazed by the botanical sketch as we are by the gesture—that is to say, that small cross, a shy marginal note, a synthesis of a complete character in a handful of chromatic strokes. Diligent yet selfish, ingenious yet voracious, each annotation thus provides a portrait based on four arms of different colors.

Here we add geometric depth to the idea with a gold chain that holds two perfect rectangles, green and blue, crossing in the center; a minimal detail transformed into an accessory, a character compressed in constant motion.

You will find it in The Nature Studies, 1919-1920.