It was the summer before eighth grade when I discovered my superpower--controlling fire. The counselor took a lighter to her torch and ignited a spark; I felt a stirring deep inside me, a heat that started in my chest and seared a tingling path down to my hands. . . I held my arms out in front of me and flames sprang from my fingertips. I realized immediately that this could be a gift, or a curse: I could save citizens by shooting bolts of fire at monsters, or I could burn down buildings. But right then I was in a jewelry studio, so I turned my flames on the metal instead. That summer only taught me the basics, but it was enough to light the spark of a creative love affair.. Once I returned home I made a jewelry studio in my attic, so I could continue to develop my powers. I even got ambitious and decided to sell my designs online. My website didn’t get much traffic until the George Floyd protests began. I was unable to march because of COVID, but I was desperate to help. I thought, I have this superpower. . . why not put it to good use? I made a ring portraying the Black Lives Matter fist to donate the proceeds to BLM and bail funds, and then posted a video on TikTok to advertise it. I was expecting maybe one or two orders at most, and was astounded when the sales started pouring in. After 200,000 views and 60 orders, I had raised $2,000. It was exhausting to create the same ring repeatedly, but as long as my fingers could still produce fire, I would continue to do everything possible to help. I also wanted to revolutionize jewelry on an artistic scale in addition to a social one. As a child, I was disappointed whenever I received jewelry as a gift because jewelry as I knew it bored me. But this is only because it was dull and stationary. Jewelry is often seen as inactive, lifeless adornment, and I realized that if I wanted to be bedazzled, I had to do it myself, so I began a project of creating moving automata to be worn as jewelry. As I continue to grow, I want to pursue the concept of creating kinetic artwork and making it wearable, to bring excitement to jewelry for everyone. When someone hears “fire power,” they assume it can only be used for evil and destruction, or they think it’s completely useless compared to typical superpowers. Sure, fire can be used to destroy, but it can also be used to build, to take something broken or incomplete and create something unique. And jewelry is not a frivolous use of my power. It not only brings light to social injustices, but also is wearable art, accessible to all, that helps people find a sense of self expression and individuality. Art is everything, and there’s no power I would rather have.

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMJxJropk/

The day I got my braces off was the best days of my life. They had caused me immeasurable pain, but had also taken my biggest source of doubt and transformed it into perfect rows of beauty. The process reminded me of my art; how I take ugly things and make them wearable. These braces had fixed me; it was my turn to fix them. I made a set of teeth of brass wire. A “Tooth Choker” sounds macabre, but art doesn’t need to be pretty. This choker represents years of insecurity transformed into a funky form of self expression.