septum xs
ostrich quill, 14k white gold
2024
the smallest in the ongoing septum series, septum xs distills the tension between vulnerability and defiance into its most compact form. measuring approximately five inches, the piece remains visually assertive despite its minimal footprint. a single ostrich quill—naturally sharp, unmodified—is set in 14k white gold and designed to pass through the nose, retaining the scale of a piercing but the presence of a sculptural gesture.
unlike the other works in the series, xs is rendered entirely in white and cream tones—its restraint chromatic as well as formal. devoid of contrast, it becomes ghostlike: an apparition of defense, an intimate talisman of self-containment. protection here is enacted quietly, almost invisibly. the object asserts itself not through volume but through intent—a refusal compressed to its essential contour.
at this scale, the confrontation is personal. identity is marked not with spectacle but incision. septum xs continues hull’s investigation into adornment as threshold, exploring how the body becomes both site and surface for psychological architecture.
septum s
ostrich quill, 14k white gold
2024
a single ostrich quill—naturally sharp and elegantly curved—is paired with a 14k white gold setting that secures the form in tension, poised for insertion yet self-contained.
this piece sits at the threshold between adornment and intervention. it suggests a kind of psychological prosthesis: not merely an accessory but a mechanism for holding space, guarding boundaries, or signaling refusal. its scale evokes the ceremonial, while its simplicity denies ornamentation.
as with others in the series, septum s explores the body as a site of both exposure and withdrawal. the form is elemental, yet loaded—charged not by what it does, but by what it implies. in hull’s ongoing sculptural practice, this work operates as both weapon and relic, marking the fine line between defense and isolation.
septum m
ostrich quill, 14k white gold
2024
septum m is the only work in the series composed entirely in a deep, uniform black-brown—its chromatic density setting it apart. the naturally sharpened ostrich quill is held in tension by a 14k white gold setting, forming a poised, deliberate arc.
where other pieces in the septum series evoke clarity or restraint through pale tonality, m offers opacity—a visual and psychological thickness. it withholds rather than reveals, presenting darkness not as absence, but as an embodied state: focused, unresolved, and quietly defiant.
existing at the intersection of adornment and defense, septum m asserts itself as both boundary and relic. it speaks in minimal language, yet carries a complex interiority—its silence holding the charge of something both concealed and unrelenting.
septum l
ostrich quill, 14k white gold
2024
septum l is the most materially assertive work in the series—its thick, arcing form and naturally tapered point conveying latent threat held in elegant suspension. the quill’s mass and density amplify its charged presence, rendering it less an adornment than a psychic apparatus.
secured by a minimal clasp of 14k white gold, the object resists decorative passivity. instead, it evokes modes of self-containment and psychological boundary: a wearable architecture for both defense and deflection. its formal economy belies a sculptural intensity that operates on both visceral and symbolic registers.
within the logic of the septum series, l occupies a threshold between identity and impenetrability. neither fully ornamental nor overtly weaponized, it functions as a material proposition—dense, exacting, and unflinching in its containment.
septum xl
ostrich quill, 14k white gold
2024
septum xl is the most linearly expansive of the series—its slender form drawing a continuous line between elegance and unease. delicately curved yet uncompromising in its precision, the work holds tension through scale rather than mass.
the quill’s sharply alternating bands of brown and white create a graphic rhythm—at once natural and coded. this patterning acts as a visual cipher, recalling systems of language, signal, or sequence. paired with a minimal 14k white gold clasp, the piece becomes both axis and artifact: ceremonial in gesture, yet resistant to fixed interpretation.
within the septum series, xl represents a distilled threshold—proposing protection as line, and presence as form. it remains suspended in intention, calibrated to mark space without force.
septum
ostrich quill, 14k white gold
2023
in septum, sebastian hull repurposes the naturally sharp quill of the ostrich—collected in south africa—and mounts it in 14k white gold. the result is a series of intimate sculptural interventions that oscillate between adornment and defense, suggesting forms of both exposure and withdrawal.
worn through the nose, each piece activates the threshold between interiority and confrontation. the gesture is neither ornamental nor purely symbolic—it is anatomical, direct, and deliberately destabilizing. these works inhabit a charged liminal space: they function as boundaries made visible, as extensions of the psyche forged into minimalist weaponry.
septum emerges from a broader inquiry into the aesthetics of control and the architectures of self-preservation. the series channels states of psychic tension—where beauty becomes barrier, and simplicity becomes a strategy of concealment. the quill, unaltered in its natural sharpness, resists refinement. it is a readymade talon—delicate, but unwilling to soften.
rather than offering resolution, septum stages a paradox: an act of visibility that defends against being seen. in doing so, it renders identity not as a fixed truth, but as a volatile surface—negotiated at the edge between vulnerability and refusal.
