Echo of the Mind by Jana Machatová and Peter Machata

Artist list

Peter Machata, Jana Machatova

Jana and Peter are key figures in the Slovak jewelry scene. They have built their international profiles through representation in specialised galleries and publication as well as through numerous exhibitions, symposiums, and workshops - including the most renowned jewellery event - Schmuck in Munich.
/ Viere Kleinova


Jana Machatová studied jewellery at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava under Anton Cepka and Karol Weisslechner. In her collection Where Are You From, Jana disengaged from her sentimental memories of childhood (typical of her previous works) and tried to demonstrate her personal experiences with the political regime she grew up in. This process was her way of dealing with the past. The process of creating the art was meant as a memento rather than a memory optimism. Jana ironizes the motifs extracted from the schizophrenic way of life in socialist society but some topics she encounters are hardly transferrable to the medium of jewel in its classic form. Jana's most recent collection Portrait of a Woman depicts women, her problems, and position in society, through the extracts of old newspapers and magazines. The artworks combine two opposing yet related mediums – sentimental newspaper clippings Frauen-Fleiss from the beginning of 20^th century and scraps from the book Everyday Gymnastics published in the eighties. These motifs are combined with Jana's own classical jewelry-making techniques. 
 
Peter Machata studied sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava under Jozef Jankovič. The base of both of Peter's collections – Stigma and Portrait of a Lady is the motif of the hand. The hand, is for the artist the most significant trait of human nature as well as a means to express his opinions, statements and emotions. Stigma is often used in religious context; however Peter uses only its visual form. The hand with its palm is the place where he can display timeless symbols and icons that influence him.  “The signs of time in form of societal, religious and ecological symbols are imprinted into the palms. I am myself stigmatised by the time, culture as well as my personal memories,” states the artist. In Stigma collection, the palm is the place for a token, while in the collection Portrait of a Lady, the artist works with the subject of the hand as a human trait. He moves the attention from a woman's face to her hand, creating her portrait. It is typical for Peter to combine the newest technologies with classical jewelry-making mastery. He digitally recreates the hand to complement it with his emotional intervention.