ArtScience.org

Pietre Preziose is a celebration of beauty, ampoule chemistry and personal history. Women in Sicily are held precious yet often limited by the traditions of an ancient culture. My own background often hits up against the hard surface of these limitations. In an effort to soften the differences between us, stuff I have given gemstone pendants to twelve women that are interlocked in a social web around my Sicilian family. Each stone in turn symbolizes one of the many chemical hormones that drive women of every culture to be who they are – as mothers, daughters, sisters, partners, workers, and friends.

Linking hormone to gemstone to woman was a subjective process based on my impressions of these women, their strengths and weakness, their desires and accomplishments. The functions of the hormones were considered alongside the aesthetics, healing potentials, and legends attributed to the gemstones. Pietre Preziosa is a synesthetic experiment as well as a labor of love.

The current state of the project is a web site describing each women, stone and hormone. Other manifestations are forth-coming.

http://www.nitasturiale.com/pietrepreziose

Nita Sturiale

I remember reading this a few years ago but wanted to post again here -  rat babies who have moms that lick and groom them often “undergo permanent changes in patterns of gene activity, leading to a penchant for exploratory behavior in stressful situations”. obvious to some i suppose but still more reason not to let a child cry themselves to sleep at night.

read article here:
Groomed DNA Handles Threats: Mothering styles alter rats’ stress responses
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20040717/fob3.asp

~nita