For some time I ran with the idea of making a small brooch pin. Something valuable with a beautiful meaning. Something you want to give to yourself or someone else because the mere act of giving carries so much meaning. A token of love, a small gesture, a mini declaration of love.
A heart shape, the most common gesture to show your love. A universal gesture that perhaps everyone in this world understands. A geometric shape, consisting of 2 circles and a triangle. A powerful symbol that allows expressing love without words.
Now that I had a symbol, I wanted to find another form to carry it. I also wanted to give it a movement, a physical act to put it into action. And then the quest began. I already knew about the expression with the hands, the thumb and index finger of both your right and left hand together form a beautiful heart shape. But this was big, and I was looking for something small, something less present. Recently the K-pop movement had also become a household word in the Western world, and with this new music stream also came the small finger movement with which the singers expressed their love to the audience.
Wikipedia writes; “ The mini heart gesture is a trend that was popularized in South Korea in which the index finger and thumb come together like a snap to form a tiny heart. The gesture was popularized by K-pop idols, who would often use the gesture to express their love and gratitude to their fans.”
The thumb and index finger come together in a sliding motion that then forms a small heart. A subtle expression of love that is added with strength by the simple elegant movement of the fingers.
This is it, this is where I want to make my version in metal!
Brass became my chosen material. A soft to the touch, creamy gold colored, hand sanded metal that symbolizes a heart of gold.
To imitate the movement I made the heart in 2 parts, together with a silver rivet the parts come together. And through a pinching motion, they slide apart to form the shape of a heart.
A lot of precision work goes into this heart. And all are handmade, so each one is unique in shape. Suddenly, a flat plate takes on a shape and identity. It comes alive for the wearer and the people around him or her. Who are you going to show your heart to?