Gésine Hackenberg All My treasure… Occasionally, the...

Gésine Hackenberg

All My treasure…

Occasionally, the realm of jewellery and commodities come together very closely…
Objects we use everyday become intimately precious and indispensable to us, just as it happens to a piece of jewellery we wear day in, day out.
On the one hand there are objects that help us to master our daily lives in a purely functional way. But on the other there are those to which we feel very close, to which we are joined as it were. Maybe this is because they’ve just always been there. Or maybe our mother and grandmother already used them. It might be just a tiny detail that fascinates us, almost nothing. Sometimes they seem to embody our wishes, moods, memories, a certain goal or habit, our affiliation with a certain group?
And then again they may not be really practical at all.
But still we like using them and in a very personal way they seem to belong to us like we belong to them. For such an object adapts through our specific way of handling.
We love them. They become the jewels in our daily lives.
I’m fascinated by the aspect of personal preciousness revealed in all kinds of belongings. Especially in objects that seem to find a place close and near to the body. I explore how these pieces can relate to the body and examine this relationship through its connection.
The use of these things pertains to body measurement and the wearing of jewellery is about use in daily life.
My materials of choice are precious metals, antique ceramics, glass and textiles, as well as the very tough and resistant Japanese Urushi lacquer. These all come from interlocking themes of household, kitchen, table and food culture. These materials seem to embody this fleeting commonplace culture surrounding us by preserving it.
Often my objects and jewels, ‘kleinoden’ (Dutch for little treasures), are primarily small, autonomous objects. Either through its use (spoons) or an intervention in the original object (ceramic jewellery), a relationship with the body is established or the object is made wearable.
I want to allow the object and the jewellery to exist in both environments.