Heart Reliquary

About this artwork

Luminous red glass circles glow like embers in a grid of metal mosaic niches. At the center, a delicate antique lock and key suggest vulnerability, devotion, intimacy, trust, and hidden spaces we protect within ourselves. The work evokes a private emotional architecture—an abstract reliquary of the heart— treasured, guarded, and held close in silence with tenderness, and full of memories. This wall sculpture from my Luminous Elements series features a handmade substrate and metal mosaic niches with satin oil-based paint. Each metal niche is filled with hand-cut glass rods, and finely crushed glass. The center niche also contains Italian smalti and a small antique lock and key.