Acid Soil: Scar, Scorn, Soil by Khajornsak Nakpan at Roma Jewelry Week 2025

Artist list

Khajornsak Nakpan

This research-creation project investigates an alternative aesthetic through bio-based materials produced from soil enriched with melanin-forming bacteria. These microorganisms create melanin with structural properties analogous to human skin pigment. The result is a resilient, skin-like material whose surface records scars, creases, tears and layered imperfections that recall wounds, surgical marks and lived bodily histories.

Beyond material innovation and sustainable practice, the project stages a conceptual argument for “imperfect beauty”: objects in which survival, repair and embodied memory are visible rather than concealed. The works invite reflection on how materiality, ethics and bodily narratives can be embedded in contemporary jewellery—transforming adornment into a register of care, resilience and critical intimacy.

The exhibiion will take part at a prestigious historic site in the heart of Rome. Italian institutions and international curators will be present at the event.