Portfolio
For me, my work and creations are the last step of a slow process, invisible for the physical eye. Throughout my work, I examine the interesting, delicate, wild, complex, spontaneous, playful, human process of creation which is for me art in itself.
It is inherent to my work that the process may be visible. Processes are my passion. The end result is unseparable from the process, it is the visible part of it and part of a larger whole. I love it if the process remains sensible in what my eyes get to see. The scars and traces don't need to be hidden nor polished. It's all part of it. Art is not separable from life either, living life to the fullest means being creative, for all of us humans. We are all creators and artists in our own unique way.
Therefore here in my portfolio, you will find images of what nourishes my being (to be able to create), of work and work in progress, the process, playing with ink, paint,... For me there is not such thing as jakoba as a maker, as an artist and jakoba as a woman, as a human being. They coincide.
About Jakoba
Since childhood, I dreamed of having my own studio. But I didn't dare tell anyone, and it would take a long time before I dared to pursue that dream. The first studio I ever knew was my grandfather's workshop; he was a bicycle repairman. I found that workspace fascinating, even magical; I felt something special when I walked in there. My grandfather was always busy making something. Making things was something I always wanted to do and have always done. I didn't think about it. And luckily, I never stopped playing and creating. Even as a child, I had an eye for detail and loved small, delicate work.
I tried everything and indulged myself, for example with textiles: embroidery, knitting, crocheting, macramé, weaving with threads, and also weaving with language. My grandmother was always working with textiles, and I saw my passion for making things in her. I also tried to make a ring with a piece of copper wire I found and the only pair of pliers I could find in the house, and I made dozens of earrings and bracelets with pearls and threads. It was my favourite thing to do, designing and expressing myself in this way. There must be so much more possible, I thought as a ten-year-old. Discovering more materials and techniques came later. I learned the techniques and materials in a course and in workshops. First, I was further moulded and shaped by life itself. It is there, in my studio, that I learn what creative processes are and how they work for me personally.
Everywhere around me, I saw and see beauty, in movement, in light, in contact, and also in the imperfect, the wild and raw, the asymmetrical, the seemingly mundane. I find treasures and inspiration when I am in motion myself, on walks, cycling, doing things, or precisely when I slow down, get lost, become still and permit myself to simply be.
In all sorts of ways, I feel drawn to and shaped by how processes work, how natural they are when they are not inhibited, the natural slowness of things when we do not force them. A love for the process. Added to this was a fascination with the process of heating and melting metals, shaping and solidifying them from liquid to solid, with the endless possibilities that this offers. It is mainly the old techniques that appeal to me, where heart, head and hands work together simultaneously and in unison. Passion for the craftsmanship that has been passed down and shaped by countless generations. And I am allowed to add my own touch to it as part of an endless story of love for beauty, love for life, across generations and continents.
I work intuitively, starting from my receptive side and trusting that everything will turn out well. I start with something, using the material that speaks to me, that evokes images. I let my feelings guide me, adding or removing things, and continue working without thinking too hard about the result. Sometimes I leave it alone and look at it from a distance, and (much) later I see how I can refine it into a wearable end product.
Jewel is thought to come from iuweel, which in turn comes from the Old French jüel or jouel, and we can hear that it has the same root as jeu, game, play. Etymologically, it would therefore literally mean a toy. The word joyau would later develop to mean treasure, jewel.
Joyau is a synonym for the better known and more commonly used bijou. It is literally a toy with which we like to adorn ourselves, and that need for ornamentation is as old as humanity itself. For me, that is striking. Playing and creating are closely related for me.
