I Work with Ghosts
The Crosses
"I don't restore them. I don't erase their age. I let them catch light again—ancient copper framed in gold, set with diamonds that honor every mark of time."
— Tanya Telish
Between the 17th and 18th centuries, Old Believers in Russia forged these crosses in secret—worn hidden, pressed against skin, not as decoration but as protection. Men wore angular, eight-pointed forms symbolizing sacrifice. Women wore softer, leaf-edged crosses reflecting Psalm 127: "Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thy house."
Each bore sacred inscriptions in Cyrillic: Царь Славы (King of Glory), IC XC (Jesus Christ), Сын Божий (Son of God). Hand-poured, hand-engraved. Never mass-produced.
Today, I discover them in European markets. The green patina stays. The worn edges stay. Each is framed in gold, rose gold, or oxidized silver, set with natural diamonds along the contours—points of light against centuries-old copper.
Every cross is singular. Once it finds its person, that exact artifact can never be recreated.