I was invited to the project Body of Water by the curators and artists Tomoyo Hiraiwa (JP) and Helen Clara Hemsley (DK). We were a group of Swedish, Norwegian and Danish jewellery artists and the assignment was to create a neckpiece on the theme ”Body of Water”.

When I heard the title I immediately got a picture in my head. It was the dead body of Shakespeare’s Ophelia. I have seen the famous painting by Sir John Everett Millais, but in my head Ophelia was found surrounded by flowers in the darkest deepest and also the most beautiful water I know; the tarn where my grandfather used to take me as a kid to pick water lilies. I was told there were leeches in the water and somehow I knew the tarn was bottomless and that you would drown if you fell into it. The dark water scared me but at the same time it had an enchanting attraction. The beauty of the bog landscape around it, the meat eating sundew, the smell of pine and the white water lilies floating on its surface made me want to go there every time I visited my grandparents.

I went to Tokyo in early September for the exhibition that opened on September 9th at the Art Hall of Nakagawa Special Steel in Tennoz Central Tower. 

Participating artists:
Denmark: Helen Clara Hemsley, Maja Røhl, Katrine Borup, Janne K. Hansen, Gabriella Goldsmith, Malene Kastalje, Hrafnhildur Halldórsdóttir, Mette Saabye.
Norway: Lillan Eliassen, Philipp Spillmann, Anna Talbot, Liv Blåvarp, Sigurd Bronger, Ingjerd Hanevold, Hilde Dramstad, Felieke van der Leest.
Sweden: Sofia Björkman, Karin Roy Andersson, Tore Svensson, Maria Börjesson, Märta Mattsson, Ammeli Engström, Helena Johansson Lindell, Hanna Liljenberg. Japan: Tomoyo Hiraiwa.

I also spent a day at Hiko Mizuno College of Jewelry together with Professor Mikiko Minewaki where I got to meet the students and see some of their impressive work.

And visited a festival arranged by Tokyo University of the Arts…

And had time for some running…

And running into familiar faces that I normally see in other parts of the world.

I’m so happy and grateful that I could make this trip, it was truly a fantastic experience in many ways. Thank you so much Estrid Ericsons Stiftelse for the support!