About a year ago I was invited to take part of a project curated by Elsa Vanier. The task was to interpret a famous painting, and I found a portrait of a wounded man with a fur cap. I started working on a piece trying to turn it into something resembling the fur cap. As the piece grew I discovered that what I had planned to be the front was less interesting than the sides. I liked the pattern that the layers of reindeer skin were forming and I thought I would save this to use in another project. But then it suddenly hit me that this was a perfect start for making sunflowers. So I kept the artist but changed the painting.

Thinking of Vincent II, brooch by Karin Roy Andersson made of reindeer skin, brass, thread and steel.

The story of Vincent van Gogh is tragic and touching. Vincent searched for love. He wanted to give love and he wanted to be loved. This doesn’t make him unique, on the contrary most humans have a need for love. But Vincent was different in other ways. He appeared strange and love was difficult for him to find – no matter how hard he tried and how much he sacrificed. It’s not easy to accept an unusual behavior, or fall in love with a strange looking face. And sometimes it takes time, effort and benignity to find love for an original, to discover the beauty of brash colors or see the genius of quirky lines. I wish I could bring Vincent to our time and show him all the love he longed for, but didn’t get until it was too late for him to enjoy it. I also think the fact that the sunflowers, something of van Gogh’s signature, have now become a symbol of peace and compassion, would warm his heart.

Thinking of Vincent II, brooch by Karin Roy Andersson made of reindeer skin, brass, thread and steel.

The result of the project, to which 10 artists had been invited, was shown at Galerie Chèret during the jewellery event Parcours Bijoux that took place in Paris Ocober 2-29. The title of the exhibition was “Citational Art” and the other artists were Marianne Anselin, Christophe Burger, Marine Dominiczak, Karen Gay, Suzanne Nègre Otwell, Agathe Saint Girons, Annie Sibert, Martin Spreng, Niki Stylianou and Claire Wolfstirn.

Mouths, frame and movable brooch by Annie Sibert made of iron, fine silver and lacquer,
citing Roy Lichtenstein

1963, brooch by Claire Wolfstirn made of steel, citing Pierre Soulages

Dots, ring by Christophe Burger made of silver, citing Roy Lichtenstein

La contemplation, pendant by Karen Gay made of silver and gold, citing Magritte

Nègre, pendant Arabesques by Suzanne Otwell made of silver and gold, citing Claude Parent

Neron and Brutus, collier by Marine Dominiczak made of brass,
citing Ettore Sottsass in his exhibition of Maison Cartier

Sleep no more, brooch by Niki Stylianou made of bronze, price tags, plastique,
silk thread and safety pins, citing Cartier’s panther

Boule jaune disque rouge, brooch by Marianne Anselin made of steel, citing Alexander Calder

Le Baiser, brooch by Martin Spreng made of titanium, gold and opals, citing Gustav Klimt

Thinking of Vincent X, brooch by Karin Roy Andersson
made of reindeer skin, brass, thread and steel, citing Vincent van Gogh

I had the great pleasure of going to Paris to set up the exhibition and to take part of the first weeks of events and exhibitions on the Parcours Bijoux program, wonderfully arranged by D’un bijou à l’autre – a non-profit organization that are making this happen for the 4th time. There were almost 50 different events and I got to see a lot of fantastic jewellery and meet the wonderful jewellery crowd there.

Opening of the exhibition Citational Art at Galerie Chèret

Opening of the exhibition Citational Art at Galerie Chèret

Happy jewellery people at Institut suédois. From the left Isabelle Busnel, me,
Jenny Jansson and Inger Wästberg. Photo by Isabelle Busnel

This trip was supported by IASPIS – thank you so much!