Soundtrack by Karin Johansson

Artist list

Karin Johansson

On Karin Johansson words:
" I use my senses as tools. By using the different senses while in a constant move I perceive the places that surrounds me. The city becomes the source of inspiration to create. In my world wearable signs, that together gives the beat of a city."


Coincidences and Unexpected Patterns: the City as it is.
 
It’s there to be used: the cities we live in, the streets we walk on, the buzz of coffee house conversations, the mysterious in-between-places, the empty bus-shelters, the mesmerizing shopwindows, We travel from one place to another, from home to work, sometimes feeling a bit lost, and suddenly we discover the beauty of small things, a piece of string, a plastic bag, some broken glass. Leftover details, the archeology of city life. Maybe a piece of paper is laying there on the floor of the tram, with something written on it, but most of the message is eaten up by the weather and the flow of time. Still we find it meaningful, a secret communication system talking directly to us. There is so much going on in the city, but you have to train your ears and eyes to discover it: the hidden rhythms, the languages underneath the surface, the correspondances between past and present.

 This is what takes place in the jewellery of Karin Johansson. The objects are inspired by materials found on the street; strings, plastic things, foil, trash. An alchemical process in putting the pieces together, using assymetrical combinations to create a sense of movement. The one who wears them give them new meanings, new life, and this dialogue with the unknown is essential. It’s the sound of the city in jewellery form, a soundtrack to the life of rhizomes, dream patterns, walking around without purpose, meeting and parting. There’s a particular joy to her objects, in the bright colours – yellow, dark orange, lilac, cerise, turquoise – in the way they play with form, giving space for non-linear energies. The objects are related to abstract patterns. Unfinished music, to be continued, reordered.    
 
Magnus Haglund,
Writer and critic, based in Gothenburg Sweden