Day 67 : Work 67. Pink nipple inside out brooch

I make forms and am an artist who looks for a place to display them. It could be good to let them displayed on the bench, table or on the wall in a beautiful museum but I happen to love them to be shown on the body. The interaction between the work made and the wearer is quite fascinating and I hope this interaction contributes to be part of the wearer’s identity showing who they are by wearing it.

I have been making contemporary jewellery professionally for over a decade. Whatever the purpose; exhibitions, production, collaboration or custom orders, I have found they all have the same amount of significance for my practice in terms of me being myself trying to communicate with the world.

In my mind I always have these questions; why do I make? Why do I enjoy making? Where can I go with this practice and how can I get there? Is there some ideal place all the makers would like to reside in the end? The only way I can answer these questions is through daily practice at my bench making something and writing about it with better self-awareness. 

I have finished volume 1 of the project craft habit 100/100. It ended at 66 days as during the first project was going on I lost my mother in my home country, Korea. This personal crisis made me off from my bench and computer mentally and physically for a while. However, if I summarise the insight I have from volume 1 is that it is not an unfamiliar thing for me to make one piece per working day at the studio but I definitely tried to stretch myself into making something more interesting, focused and talking about me more. It involves higher levels of technical sophistication, better documentation for future reference and more research about the subject matter important to my work. Secondly, I could see what kind of person I am a little better. It is not just about what I like or don’t like, but about how I would like to think, respond and try to improve myself. I love hard working, being aware, and most importantly I am so happy at the studio everyday. I will continue to get somewhere deeper, greener and more sustainable.

This project is about commitment. I am starting another volume for craft habit project under this title, “My Lala land” and planning for an exhibition at egetal at the end of July. Based on the initial intuitive pieces from the first project I will complete the forms as wearable ones and document it for 100 working days. I would like to share the stories, thoughts and insights I build for my practice through this project and show how making and writing about the process constructs a strong identity as a maker. 

First one I would like to show is an outcome from “Day 35: Value and Intensity of the colour”. The resolution of black and pink is below.

I think I need to reconsider the questions about making and my practice. It is not why I make but it is more like I make since I am alive today. The process does not have to be too intense but just to be mindful.

3 initial structures to be combined.

Combined and sandblasted

Finished work- “Pink inside out brooch”. It has been selected for “ Beijing International Jewellery Art Exhibition 2019”. Mildsteel(blackened and pink powder coated) , silver and steel.