TRANSFORMATION Alan Revere This brooch evolved from my understanding of personal growth and transformation. While change happens in and around us all the time, transformation involves a radical or revolutionary shift to a new level of understanding or consciousness. The title is a reference to the Aymara people, an indigenous tribe dwelling in the high plains around Lake Titicaca in Peru and Bolivia. The strongest and most sacred of their deities is Pachamama, the Earth Goddess, who has the power to make the soil fertile and ensure a good crop. It is Pachamama who is responsible for all change and it is to this goddess that my brooch is dedicated, as I honor the personal transformation to which all of us can aspire. This brooch is a medallion for personal transformation. Made of the most precious materials from Mother Earth, it is fashioned in the shape of a platinum heart with a vibrant golden core erupting in a ruby red button. Brilliant diamonds are scattered like an explosion of stars in the sky. This brooch is about personal transformation, shifting consciousness from being disembodied and asleep to becoming fully alive and ecstatic. My work, Aymara, is a badge for the transformation of the wearer, a symbol of spiritual and physical change. The Aymara believe in the power of spirits that live in mountains, in the sky and in natural forces. When one is aligned with Pachamama, ready and open, personal transformation occurs. “Everything in your life is a vehicle for your transformation.” —Ram Dass 56