Brooches that resemble back braces. Rings inspired by submarines. Necklaces adorned with silver and silk cocoons. These are all elements of Katja Prins' "Uncanny Incarnations" exhibition, on display at ATTA, one of Thailand's first "wearable art" galleries.
Katja Prins.
Prins, who hails from Amsterdam, is an award-winning artist specialising in jewellery. But don't expect to find precious, traditional gemstones and luxurious gold chains at her exhibitions. She doesn't necessarily make rings and brooches for beauty's sake — each piece has been created with a carefully thought-out meaning or reference in mind.
"Uncanny Incarnations" displays a selection of pieces from various collections designed by Prins over the years (the silver and silk cocoons are part of her "Rubber" collection from 1997). At first glance, some of her inventions might look like they belong in a hospital or on a machine, rather than a decorative feature on the body. Parts of industrially manufactured plastic objects were used to make the "Machines Are Us" ring, while the porcelain cones that adorn brooches and rings in the "Inventarium" collection are reminiscent of laboratory equipment. Even the beautifully delicate structures that make up her "Flower Pieces" — which suggests a more conventional aesthetic — were created in a dual-chrome of grey and silver. Prins designs jewellery to ask questions about our modern society.
You first trained in goldsmithing back in the Netherlands. When did you decide to focus on contemporary art jewellery?
A necklace from the 'Inter-Act' collection.
As soon as I started my technical education as a goldsmith, I knew that I was mainly interested in the art and design part of jewellery-making. I wasn't really drawn to traditional jewellery, so I decided to attend an art academy after my goldsmith training.
My work isn't really about jewellery itself. It's more about developing a visual language and telling an interesting story. I'm an artist whose medium happens to be jewellery.
What makes wearable art special?
The connection to its wearer — contemporary jewellery is a direct expression of a person's view and interest in life.
Besides, I like the relationship between my art and the body. In a way, the body becomes the canvas for the work and gives it an extra layer in meaning and concept.
Much of your work does seem to feature the body and its relationship with science and mechanical devices. Why do these themes fascinate you?
When you think about it, the relationship between the human body and technology is really intimate. It's everywhere. We sleep, sit, eat, drink, move and live with technology. We even use it to connect with each other. Technology constantly changes our lives.
In the past, we mainly focused on the outside world. Nowadays, we concentrate much more on our inner world — on our brains and bodies. Think of plastic surgery, smart drugs that improve our memory, robotics and nanotechnology. A lot of these began as healing treatments. Before, we were using them to bring something back to normal, but now we use them to improve or enhance people; making them better than normal.
These developments raise questions. What are all these improvements doing to our humanity? Has technology made us less human?
This ambivalence intrigues me and this is what I try to express in my work.
So you're not trying to convey a particular message through your art?
A brooch from the 'Flower Pieces' collection.
My intention is to make something interesting; something that attracts attention, intrigues the viewer and makes him or her wonder. Wonderment is one of the best emotions in life. We lose it over the years, as we get older and more experienced. My love for art can make me wonder like a child again.
To me, technology and humans are linked — haven't we always used it to survive? But I find it very interesting that they appear different from each other, which results in a certain tension. I like that.
I'm not interested in plain beauty and comforting things. I like the poetry of being puzzled and confused. Things get so much more interesting when there's some disturbance. Like Lawrence Weiner said: "Art is supposed to mess everything up."
Who or what has been the biggest inspiration for your art?
Over the years, I have been inspired by artists such as Mark Manders, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Tadao Ando, Saskia Olde Wolbers, Dieter Rahms, Andreas Gursky and Joep van Lieshout. I have also been inspired by books of thinkers/visionaries such as Peter-Paul Verbeek, Ray Kurzweil and Sonia Arrison.
My eyes are always drawn to images of medical technology and anatomical drawings, as well as of industry and machines. When creating "Hybrids" [her latest collection], I looked a lot at braces — such as body braces for the spine. I had to wear one myself for a year when I was 15 because of a deformation in my spine. Maybe that's where it all started. I don't know and, actually, it's not all that important to me.
What would you say to critics who argue that jewellery should not be considered art?
Not all jewellery should be considered art, but art jewellery, or contemporary jewellery, is just as much art as a film, photo or painting. Jewellery is a medium, like photography or painting. It's the way the medium is used that makes it art.
"Uncanny Incarnations" is on display until Aug 16 at ATTA Gallery, OP Garden shopping complex, Charoen Krung Soi 36.
A ring from the 'Machines Are Us' collection.
