I chose a Q&A style to respond to some of the theme’s very intriguing questions.  

 

If we make objects to decorate the body, are we suggesting the body is not enough in itself?   

 

Decoration should not be the exclusive role of jewelry.  Our civilization both ‘covers’ and ‘unveils’ the body with extreme ambivalence as consumption (i.e., owing objects) has been elevated to almost a spiritual act.     

  

We are not making objects just to decorate the body, or at least we shouldn’t.  

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TempContemp wants to know how the body relates to your work and ideas: 

  

Do you consider it?  

 

Always, permanently, intensively. But when a piece of my work and the body do not speak to one another, my piece becomes an object.

 

How important is it?  

  

Very, but its importance is not exclusive.  The body contributes to the creative process of turning material into a piece of wearable art.  

  

What are the choices, compromises, discoveries and inventions you make to include (or reject) bodies in your practice?  

  

I choose materials and forms that are inclusive and easy to relate to anybody.  I never include or reject a body.  What I focus on is the relationship between a body and a particular piece I have created. I decide whether or not such a relationship has the potential to exist and be empowering or it might not.  

 

Whose body do we want? Whose body do we get? Do you make jewellery for someone who looks like you? Or do you make jewellery for some fantasy body that you hope to attract? - Or are you more cynical than that and you make jewellery for any body that comes with a fat, powerful wallet.  

  

I make jewelry for anyone who wants to actually experience wearing my pieces. Anyone who will play with them and make them their own.  The person and their body can interpret the piece as they find meaningful and pleasant for themselves. 

  

If contemporary jewellery is about the body, why do we (TC included) instinctively model it on a blank wall or a square, usually white, plinth?

  

I usually model the object on a blank surface and then decide in front of a mirror if and how it relates with the body. I then invite other people to interact with it.  They offer me clues as to whether what I have produced can become a wearable piece or not.  I create an open and safe space where selected others can become part of the decision-making process.  The very final decision is based on my instinct.  

  

If contemporary jewellery is about the body AND about being non-precious - why lock it away from the bodies behind glass and a paywall?   

  

No responsibility if it gets stolen or broken, I guess. Or because of an unspoken ambivalence regarding its ‘real’ place.  

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I don’t see a body; I see a wearer. I work for anyone who is open to experience the sensations and personal feelings of a foreign body touching their body. I generate elements you can grab on. I create a safe space for anyone who wants to join in. There is no body without a soul and I see them both, simultaneously. 

  

I made this piece both to comfort and mock. The wearer decides with their body the role that this piece plays for them or doesn’t - if it becomes a simple decoration or a full expression of identity. Are you overburdened by it or do you wear it with pride?   

  

Is it a bag, an eye, or your spine?