ARTICLE
The Art of Karin Jones
By Carrie Yodanis
As an artist and a jeweler, Karin Jones asks herself: “I have an idea, a message to convey—is jewelry the best medium to express that idea?” Many times it is, but not always. Jones says it’s important to really think about how the idea, and the art being created to express it, relate to the body. Her recent work is the outcome of years of thinking about these ideas. The series (body of work) is based on the shackles and restraints that enslaved persons were forced to wear. Having spent her life making metal objects for people to put on their bodies, she was struck by images of the metal objects forced upon the bodies of enslaved people to cause pain and confinement. As a Black woman herself, she thought about this history that shaped her identity, that she carried with her, that was forced upon her.
Caption: Karin Jones, Scale (detail), 2018, found object (arm from weigh scale), steel, used horse tack (leather), handmade brass mount on wood panel, 61 x 122 x 4.4 cm, photo: Anthony McLean
