Saoirse Byrne’s exploration of cordage began with learning to twist wild harvested plants with Tamara Wilder. Curious, she applied the process to the abundance of materials in her studio and life. Having held on to her great grandmother’s threadbare handkerchief for decades – precious but unusable – Saoirse turned to cordage. It became a strong, loving reminder of her – a necklace that she could wear and a process that she could share.

Saoirse’s work focuses on materials that can be salvaged and reused, as well as eco-friendly, naturally grown fibers. She loves to reclaim textiles and preserve the memories and joy that they once brought previous owners.

For this necklace, Saoirse combined scraps of leather saved by a cobbler in Mendocino county with bone beads, recalling the story of Queen Dido and the founding of Carthage. Having fled from her tyrannical brother, Dido and her band of exiles landed in North Africa, where she asked the Berber king Iarbas for whatever land she could encompass in an oxhide. Dido proceeded to cut the hide into fine, thin strips, until she had enough to surround a nearby hill. In digging the foundations an ox's skull was found, indicating a city that would be wealthy but subject to others. As a result another area of the hill was dug instead where a horse's skull was found, indicating that the city would be powerful in war. This spot became Carthage.

Saoirse also chose to double over the cordage in a technique called cabling and to leave the spliced ends of the leather exposed, which creates a barbed wire effect, and another nod to cattle and land boundaries.

This extra long necklace can be worn doubled, tripled, or even quadrupled for a variety of looks.

Materials: Leather, bone

Approximately 108“ long.