
Marilena Karagkiozi

Dimensions: 100 x 50 x 50 Materials: Shoulder piece/ scrap metal

Materials: Ring/ scrap metal

Dimensions: 400 x 200 x 30 Materials: Necklace/ burlap fabric and string, recycled paper, reclaimed wood

Dimensions: 100 x 50 x 50 Materials: Shoulder piece/ scrap metal
A Poor Man’s Armor is an ongoing project which I started during the lock-down when I attempted to make my own homemade, recycled paper out of old magazines. Some of the paper pulp remained, and I also had lying around some burlap fabric. I folded and stitched and passed some time pleasantly. I have a small laboratory in the house and a jewelry bench but I couldn’t bring myself to sit and work there. I felt like making some sort of amulet or protective jewelry and I wanted it to be close to a primitive and natural aesthetic. Materials where absent or unreachable so I used what I had in order to create the first piece. I wanted it to be comfortable and give a sense of safety and consolation. The other pieces followed the same direction, only this time with some scrap metal found by the river. In progress, a head piece too...
When I started the 3-piece armor I was probably thinking of my own safety but while I was placing one piece on top of the other, I realized a very simple fact on this technique. One piece alone, cannot be an armor. Only when the single parts are LEANING ON EACH OTHER they may become a strong, impenetrable piece of defensive weaponry. United, flexible and safe.