Tattooing in Japan, which developed around the fifteenth century, was not intended to be displayed publicly. Instead, it was inked onto parts of the body hidden beneath clothing, embodying an aesthetic in which one carries within the heart the strength of having endured pain, transforming that endurance into a quiet form of confidence.

Learning about this practice in the twenty-first century, I found myself relating to women living in contemporary Japan. It suggests a form of confidence in which strength is held inward and restrained, giving rise to a refined beauty in gesture and thought.

I reinterpret this aesthetic of tattooing as an ornament fashioned through metalworking techniques. By hammering copper plates, I form a second skin that traces the body, and engrave upon its surface the peony flowers. Conceived as a second garment, it becomes a skin worn beneath one’s clothes.

Project year: 2001

Material: copper, silver, brass, opal
Hammerwork, Metal engraving and inlay techniques