“Back to my roots” by Catarina Hällzon

October 26, 2022 - November 30

Museum of Applied Arts and Design

Arsenalo g. 3a, LT-01143 Vilnius

Paroda

Catarina Hällzon, the invited guest of the 6th International Biennial of Contemporary Metal Art METALOPHONE: MEMORY OF A PLACE, presents her solo exhibition “Back to my roots”. Catarina Hällzon is a Swedish jeweller who creates from nature. That’s right; her perspective on the world is inextricably linked to nature and living beings; she re-creates organic materials found in nature and transforms her creations into objects for the body. The artist says: “In a way, I work in conservation. My experiences are transformed in the process of working, until in the end they become trophies of sorts, suspended moments. I create jewellery that gives birth to stories that I can never predict. My great strength is my ability to see the material and control its inherent qualities.” One of the most important things in Hällzon’s work is the materials. She uses what surrounds us, but what we don’t notice and sometimes reject. The skin of a fish or its backbone and bones, the bark of a tree, a moose tooth found in the forest, bones – all of these become the jeweller’s inspiration and the basis for her jewellery. It all speaks of man as part of nature, of the fact that we are all one. Living in a society that is urbanizing faster and faster, it is becoming more and more important for the artist to stay close to nature. And to try to preserve fragments of old knowledge and experience by translating them into the language of contemporary jewellery.

Photo by Gintarė Grigėnaitė

The exhibition “Back to My Roots” is a story about time and love. It is a story of a relationship with her grandfather, who, according to the artist, was a “man of the forest”. After his death, there was a supply of birch wood in the barn that he did not have time to use. In Sweden, people used birch bark for roofing, home insulation, wickerwork for shoes, baskets and plaits. Nowadays, it has lost its practical significance, but Catarina Hällzon aims to revive it with new ways of expression. It is a tribute to a material that has meant so much to so many people. By going back to her roots, she is not only returning to her personal childhood, but also to the past of an entire nation. Using tree bark, birch bark and wood, silver, copper and enamel, she creates jewellery that reflects the uniqueness of a place and restores to the present what has been lost.

Jurgita Ludavičienė