Carolina Apolonia: Arrhythmia

Artist list

Carolina Apolonia

The heart. Unnoticed but for its consistent beat, it determines whether we live or die. The heart is thrilled when in love, swells with inspiration and good spirits, is flooded by passion and broken by grief.

My work, this collection, is about the resilience of the human heart; its rhythm pulsating with great joy, trouble and adversity. I used natural materials very close to the human skin: leather and parchment. By hand-stitching these materials to silver, I create new structures to be worn almost as an extension of the body; as outward expressions of the rhythms inside.

My mother taught me at a very early age how to stitch. Stitching holds memories of long happy hours working with her. I think I am drawn to its time-consuming, repetitive and meditative nature: it forces me to slow down and gives me a sense of freedom: that I can use the needle to connect and repair anything. Most of the leather I use for these pieces is old and recycled. So are the used book covers. Old and worn-out materials tell stories, they carry tales about how they've been cherished or abused. The stitching brings the old materials together, heals them, thus creating new narratives out of old histories.

- Carolina Apolonia