When I picked up this piece on the beach, I immediately knew what I wanted to try and do with it. The triangular shape and the subtle lines make for a perfect sail. We also find many cowrie lips on the beach, which is an ideal shape for the bottom piece, so that was a no-brainer. The one thing that I did have to do for the cowrie was to add a backing to it. The backing filled in and stabilized the hollow space underneath so that when it came time to set it, if I had to hammer the silver in around it, it would be less likely to crack or break under the pressure.
We call this piece the Sakman, also known as the flying proa. It’s a traditional sailing outrigger boat used by the ancient CHamorus of the Marianas islands.