After the birth of our eldest son, I received a special silver bracelet from my husband. 156 BPM (beats per minute) was written on it with beat letters. 156 BPM was our son's first sign of life. It was his heartbeat we heard at the obstetrician after a month of pregnancy. The heart rate of our second son -165 BPM- was added four years later. I take the bracelet on and off every day, and two cracks appeared in the bracelet. At that moment, I remembered a Japanese technique I had read about during my training at the Design Academy. This technique is called Kintsugi.
Kin is the Japanese word for gold, tsugi means connection. Kintsugi stands for gold connection and is the Japanese art of repairing and strengthening broken ceramics with gold or silver lacquer. This technique was developed in the 15th century for shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa who disapproved of ceramics, which were traditionally repaired with a kind of metal staples. It was then that the idea for a gold connection was conceived. Traces of use enrich, layer and show the history of an object. Once a bowl was repaired with Kintsugi, its value increased, and it quickly became a collector's item. After all, the bowl had become more beautiful and stronger and told a story. The bracelet represents my bond with my family. It has been repaired with gold welds and is stronger and more beautiful than ever.
You learn when you make a mistake. Dealing with misfortune makes you stronger. Overcoming fear gives you freedom. The things that are difficult for you to deal with often produce something beautiful. Making art helps to heal my cracks and fill them with gold. Through whimsical lines and frayed edges on the border of beautiful and ugly, I see beauty and end up with what interests me and what gets me out of bed every morning. Curious about what comes my way.
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