Jasmin Matzakow, Memories of healing, necklace, 2015, tattooed lime wood, dyed intestines
Jasmin Matzakow is interested in the relationship between jewellery, the body, and social context. She investigates the backgrounds and effect of tattooing, scarring, and branding. These painful physical interventions are carried out in a controlled and a ritualized setting. And, they provide protection on a physical and a magical level. Jasmin also mutilates her necklaces. In that process, and its result, they acquire great beauty which makes them accessible. By referencing the possibility of healing and growth after a painful experience, the jewellery itself also acquires transformational powers aimed at the future. The necklaces form a protective shield, as well as a ‘weapon’ that can break power and create love.