Inspiration – Scarification

“The body is a surface waiting for the imprintation of culture.”

Claude Levi-Strauss, 1963; an eminent anthropologist speaking on scarification. 

The practice of scarification fascinates me greatly, and inspires the patterns in my work. While it is often seen by the Western world as a brutalistic practice, for the wearer it is used as a proud statement on social status and hierarchy within the tribe. Scarification has been traditionally applied in order to beautify the body, mark moments and convey social status – the same as wearing jewellery has done for civilisations. 

When we adorn the body with jewellery, we send similar messages into the community, marking who we are and what we value. So they’re really not too dissimilar.

It’s obvious from my jewellery pieces that I have an obsessive desire to recreate pattern and texture; a compulsion for repetitive mark-making that purges out from the blows of my hammer and onto the metal I use.

Just as the embossed patterns of tribal scars denote, the marks on my jewellery tell a story of their wearer; mapping time, journeys, conquests, victories. Needless to say, I’m constantly fascinated by this practice and it heavily influences my work.

Image sources: National Geographic, East Africans (Instagram), Eric Lafforgue and the internet.