Beauty becomes complicated

Compared to the development in countries like the Netherlands, Germany and Great Britain, Swedish art jewellery was long marked by slow changes and preservation of traditional craftsmanship qualities.

The new jewellery movement gained widespread acclaim in Sweden only in the late 1980s. However, since the entry of this new and liberated approach in regards to materials, techniques and themes, its application has often been cautious.

The vulgar, grotesque and in other ways visually provocative expressions have only in recent years made its way into the Swedish jewellery scene. Today, nature and geometry are seriously trailing behind as the preferred sources of inspiration, in favour of contemporary popular culture and its wide-ranging modes of expression.

In this meaning the development in Swedish jewellery has clear parallels to movements in other artistic fields, not only in the realm of craft. As the domain expands towards discussions on perception, the making of the identity and social interaction, the relation to art theory, philosophy and sociology is becoming increasingly important.

Form is replaced by content.
There has also been a shift in working methods in the sense that the jewellers increasingly often formulate clearly defin ed thematic projects, which are left behind upon completion as they move on to the next project.
The artistry becomes a stretch of events rather than a continuous flow. This poses challenges to an audience that has become accustomed to appreciate gradual development and refinement of expressive means.

Additionally, to a growing extent many young jewellers make embodiments of examinations, events and meetings rather than concrete jewellery. This dematerialization of the art object carries clear references to the art of the 60s and 70s, along with influences from the virtual dimensions and communication patterns in contemporary society as well.

It is important to remember that the Swedish body of artists has become increasingly international. Many of the artists in the exhibition have studied abroad and several of them are born in countries other than Sweden.

Compared to most other branches of Swedish craft, the jewellery artists have been actively partaking in the international exchange arena, partly as a result of having been schooled by university teachers with foreign backgrounds and frequent participation in workshops abroad.

That the aim is shifting focus away from a nationally defined style is evident.
In this context it is worth noting that some jewellers still favour moti fs that expressively side with the famed Nordic sense of nature. Today however, this is rarely simply a result from unreflecting romanticism or tradition. Many pieces based on natural forms hold double meanings: they are not only referring to nature but also become commentaries to the tradition of nature romanticism itself.

In Sweden, this tradition may be traced back to the poetry of the 18th century, and reached its most significant form during the era of nationalist flirtation in the past centurial turn. Today, the Swedish relationship to nature is mirrored and retold through channels such as advertising and popular culture. To the artists, the nature theme lends itself as a mean to relate to questions on identity, tradition and change.

Karin Johansson may serve as an example of an artist who forwards parts of the nature-oriented tradition, but in the form of a personal world of imagery with many idea sources. In the geometrical forms that dominate her jewellery, flowers, leaf forms and other references to the natural world are often present.

However, there is an affinity to an unobtrusive and emotional sphere established here as well, where a subtle play of opposites takes place, between the concealing and the advancing, between isolation and interaction.
In many aspects however, it is the human body that has become the unifying basis to the jewellers. The fact that the object of jewellery, positioned in the interface between the individual's body and society, offers unique access to current discussions within a number of cultural contexts is more or less a truism.

To the young Swedish jewellery artists, the subject of the body is not so much an art historical motif as it is a thematic assessment of it as a concept and social phenomena. The jewellers tend to relate to the body as a changeable quantity, shaped by the rules and values of the external world as well as by the individual's feelings and yearning for expression.

Every once in a while, the unexpected or even unpleasant presses through the conventional beauty. Teeth, fingers and eyes may appear as motifs, with evident references to the state of interchangeability that body parts have today. Cloning in the medical sciences, as well as today's frequently exposed fascination for plastic surgery, both form foundations for artistic themes.

That this fits well into the international trend of jewellery as well as the visual arts hardly needs mentioning.

In Aud Charlotte Ho Sook Sinding's sculptural rubber jewellery, with their somewhat ghostly depictions of flowers and birds, a contradictory bond between human and nature transpires. The carrier mu st subject to Aud Charlotte Ho Sook Sinding's voluminous pieces of jewellery, resulting in the appearance of nature getting the upper hand.

In this sense the objects join up with the discussion on the relationship between carrier and object. Who in this relationship is the carrier of expression?

If the jewellers whose theme is the body have set beauty aside, there are others that consciously choose the beautiful as a mode of communication. Beauty can be emotionally moving and create reactions: as an object with historical ties to desire and seduction, the pretty piece of jewellery opens up to associations of power and submission.

Beauty becomes complicated in the complex process of personal interpretation and projections. The contradictions are often readily present in the artistic manifestation of the beautiful. In Agnieszka Knap's leaf and flower shaped pendants, the beautiful balances on the verge of a violent expression.

The porous enamel surfaces can give a scorched impression, like human bodies whose keepers have burnt them in the sun for the sake of vanity.
The enamelling, a traditional goldsmith technique, becomes a paradoxical way of communication in a contemporary context. In a text about her work, Agnieszka Knap states that beauty is an instrument and that her jewellery "is about making the viewer associate with certain feelings, situations or memories.

I don't tell concrete stories, but through the choice of colour and form I want to invoke a personal story in the viewer."

This goal may seem vague, but is representative of a young generation of artists that are anxious to avoid locking the audience's relationships to an interpretations of their work to established models. The emphasis is placed on the intimate relationship between the piece of jewellery and its carrier.

Perhaps a common tendency in young art is traceable here, one that aims to avoid too substantial pretences. Meetings and events - creating new contexts formed by the individual viewer's own life experiences - is more important than the universal autonomy of the art piece.

The relationship to the materials offers another access point to the review of Swedish art jewellery in this exhibition. Over the past two decades a gradual change has occurred regarding the choice of materials. Metals, stones and pearls are no longer the obvious starting point.

Some of the pieces by Ulrika SwŠrd are examples of how even sound can be an element in the production. Organic and in other ways frail materials are also used by many jewellers and the characteristics of the material then itself turns into a carrier of meaning. Brittleness can be used as a metaphor for the perishability of life and a reminder of that we must take care with the most fragile and valuable of all - human relationships.

In many pieces, not only the materials emerge carriers of meaning, but the time factor as well. Some examples are Charlotte SkalegŚrd and Anna Unsgaard's detailed textile techniques that charge the objects with time - a true scarcity in our day.

The prosaic materials, thin wire made of stainless steel and copper respectively, are not inherently valuable, but the time that has been invested in the manufacturing process makes the pieces lavish, and therefore alluring objects. In contrast to many older and perfectionist goldsmith techniques, the traces of artist's labour are clearly perceptible.

The artistic process and its stretch into the time dimension becomes a motif itself. In Anna Unsgaard's pieces the material carries obvious references to communication as well. The copper wire is recycled from old telephone lines. In the age of wireless communication, the copper wires provide a link to a recent past, yet at the same time articulate a reminder of the communicative aspect in the particular act of carrying a piece of jewellery.


Love Jšnsson
Craft and design critic

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