Klimt02.net Katia Rabey

Katia Rabey
Necklace: Fine Line Between Pork and Swine, 2021
Stainless steel, powder coating, hand-crafted silver chain, aluminium, thread.
Photo by: Arseniy Kuntsevich

I accidentally came up with the phrase “Fine Line Between Pork and Swine” one morning few months ago, and it got stuck in my brain, so I had to make a necklace with it.
I thought it was a playful take on a fine line separating life from death, but then my very smart friend dropped by one day and after taking one look at the necklace said “Oh, it’s a reference to Ivanhoe, right?”
It turns out, the entire novel by Walter Scott was originally inspired by a discussion Scott had with his friend about how words that mean livestock have Anglo-Saxon origin (swine, cow, sheep). but when livestock is being turned into food and served it is called by Norman words (pork, beef, mutton) and this is supposed to be an illustration of how the Saxons were enslaved by the Normans.

Funny how you first make a piece and then it turns out to be much more interesting than you originally suggested!

Katia Rabey
Necklace: Fine Line Between Pork and Swine, 2021
Stainless steel, powder coating, hand-crafted silver chain, aluminium, thread.
Photo by: Arseniy Kuntsevich

Details.

Katia Rabey
Necklace: Fine Line Between Pork and Swine, 2021
Stainless steel, powder coating, hand-crafted silver chain, aluminium, thread.
Photo by: Arseniy Kuntsevich

On body.

Katia Rabey
Pendant: Stress-Eating 2019, 2020
14K gold, silver loop, thread.
2.4 x 1.1 x 0.2 cm

Photo by Arseniy Kuntsevich

The conceptual part of this pendant was in the works for nearly 2 years.
When in the summer of 2018 I returned home from 5 years in Israel, at first I was euphoric: no language barrier, surrounded by old friends, etc. But slowly I started feeling more and more down: old friends had new lives, my new skills seemed unneeded, the weather was unpleasant, so by the time winter came I found myself at a really low point.
I found solace in junk food: emotional eating, stress-eating, over-eating – all of these became my close companions in the year 2019, so by the end of that year I was really shocked when online statistics of my bank account showed how much I spent in McDonald's. I was equally shocked when I realized how much weight I gained.
WWJD? What Would Jeweler Do? I translated the sum I spent on junk food into grams of gold and cast a small pendant of the same weight. The entire year of stress-eating could be expressed by mere 5.43 grams of gold.
It is interesting what had happened next: for the entire year 2020 I haven’t touched junk food at all, not even a little, because I didn’t want to ruin such a beautiful concept: a talisman against emotional eating. I lost 9 kilos by the way, but it’s not the point. What is the point, you ask? The power of conceptual jewelry, of course!

Katia Rabey
Pendant: Stress-Eating 2019, 2020
14K gold, silver loop, thread.
2.4 x 1.1 x 0.2 cm

Photo by Arseniy Kuntsevich
Side view

The conceptual part of this pendant was in the works for nearly 2 years.
When in the summer of 2018 I returned home from 5 years in Israel, at first I was euphoric: no language barrier, surrounded by old friends, etc. But slowly I started feeling more and more down: old friends had new lives, my new skills seemed unneeded, the weather was unpleasant, so by the time winter came I found myself at a really low point.
I found solace in junk food: emotional eating, stress-eating, over-eating – all of these became my close companions in the year 2019, so by the end of that year I was really shocked when online statistics of my bank account showed how much I spent in McDonald's. I was equally shocked when I realized how much weight I gained.
WWJD? What Would Jeweler Do? I translated the sum I spent on junk food into grams of gold and cast a small pendant of the same weight. The entire year of stress-eating could be expressed by mere 5.43 grams of gold.
It is interesting what had happened next: for the entire year 2020 I haven’t touched junk food at all, not even a little, because I didn’t want to ruin such a beautiful concept: a talisman against emotional eating. I lost 9 kilos by the way, but it’s not the point. What is the point, you ask? The power of conceptual jewelry, of course!

Katia Rabey
Pendant: Stress-Eating 2019, 2020
14K gold, silver loop, thread.
2.4 x 1.1 x 0.2 cm

Photo by Katia rabey
Alternative view

The conceptual part of this pendant was in the works for nearly 2 years.
When in the summer of 2018 I returned home from 5 years in Israel, at first I was euphoric: no language barrier, surrounded by old friends, etc. But slowly I started feeling more and more down: old friends had new lives, my new skills seemed unneeded, the weather was unpleasant, so by the time winter came I found myself at a really low point.
I found solace in junk food: emotional eating, stress-eating, over-eating – all of these became my close companions in the year 2019, so by the end of that year I was really shocked when online statistics of my bank account showed how much I spent in McDonald's. I was equally shocked when I realized how much weight I gained.
WWJD? What Would Jeweler Do? I translated the sum I spent on junk food into grams of gold and cast a small pendant of the same weight. The entire year of stress-eating could be expressed by mere 5.43 grams of gold.
It is interesting what had happened next: for the entire year 2020 I haven’t touched junk food at all, not even a little, because I didn’t want to ruin such a beautiful concept: a talisman against emotional eating. I lost 9 kilos by the way, but it’s not the point. What is the point, you ask? The power of conceptual jewelry, of course!

Katia Rabey
Pendant: Begin Autopsy, 2020
Stainless steel, powder coating, plastic, thread.
Photo by: Arseniy Kuntsevich

The full title of this work is “Begin autopsy on a white male, age sixty, who is arguably having a worse time in Texas than I am, though not by much” which is a quote from special agent Dana Scully, a character portrayed by Gillian Anderson on the 90s show “The X-Files”.

When I was little, I was obsessed with the show, with aliens and UFO-sightings, with American government conspiracies, and, most of all, with special agent Dana Scully. I had her face on every sticker, every bookmark, every poster, and even on a cover of my school book.

When I went into puberty, I became less passionate about UFOs and government conspiracies, however, it was my childhood obsession with smart, sarcastic, strong, and beautiful Dana Scully that helped me realize my sexuality, which wasn’t an easy thing in the early 2000-s Russia. I dedicated this pendant – shaped like an alien head, but containing a reference to agent Scully – to my teenage years when a lot of puzzle pieces of my identity were hidden deep into various pop-culture obsessions.

This piece participated in an exhibition “In-School Suspension” organized by JV-Collective in November 2020.
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.

Katia Rabey
Earrings: Silly Sheriff's Office, 2020
Silver, stainless steel, plywood, cold enamel, thread, beads.
Photo by: Arseniy Kuntsevich
From series: Silly Village

Silly Village is a small series that consists of Silly Circus necklace and Silly Sheriff’s Office earrings, both works are built with ball bearings which allow pieces to be spinned around and to be played with.
“Silly Sheriff’s Office” is a respected establishment maintaining peace and order in the Village.
Wanted for silly crimes are:
- Mrs. Butts: ate the seed corn.
- Mr. Hickinbottom: sawed off the bough he was sitting on.
- Mr. Fartz Jr.: built a fire under himself.

Katia Rabey
Earrings: Silly Sheriff's Office, 2020
Silver, stainless steel, plywood, cold enamel, thread, beads.
Photo by: Arseniy Kuntsevich
From series: Silly Village

On body.

Katia Rabey
Pendant: Silly Circus, 2019
Silver, stainless steel, plywood, cold enamel, thread, pearls.
Photo by: Bella Antonio
From series: Silly Village

Silly Village is a small series that consists of Silly Circus necklace and Silly Sheriff’s Office earrings, both works are built with ball bearings which allow pieces to be spinned around and to be played with.
“Silly Circus: Carousel of popular opinions” is an entertaining show touring around the globe with its greatest hits.
Performing tonight are:

- My kid could paint that!

- Global warming is a hoax!
- What’s next, marrying animals?
- Boys will be boys!
- Immigrants are stealing our jobs!
- Straight white men are oppressed!

Katia Rabey
Pendant: Silly Circus, 2019
Silver, stainless steel, plywood, cold enamel, thread, pearls.
Photo by: Bella Antonio
From series: Silly Village

On body.

Katia Rabey
Pendant: Silly Circus, 2019
Silver, stainless steel, plywood, cold enamel, thread, pearls.
Photo by: Bella Antonio
From series: Silly Village

Detail.

Katia Rabey
Pendant: Flat Stomach, 2019
Stainless steel, cord.
14 x 11 x 1 cm
Photo by: Katia Rabey

Wouldn’t you love to eat as much as you want and still be able to say you have a “flat stomach”? Easy - given the “Flat Stomach” is a title of jewelry you own. This pendant mimics the shape of a stomach, the one we recognize from our anatomy textbooks and heartburn pill ads. It is roughly the size of an actual stomach, and when worn, it is placed right on top of the real one. But the cold steel texture and the cage-like pattern turn the soft organ into a kind of prison of dietary restrictions.

Katia Rabey
Pendant: Flat Stomach, 2019
Stainless steel, cord
14 x 11 x 1 cm
Photo by: Rafi Schoffman, Dani Schoffman
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.

Katia Rabey
Necklace: Judgements, 2019
Silver, pearls, thread, 3d-printed plastic, perspex, steel, leather cord, paint.

Made after a photograph by Rosea Lake.

Katia Rabey
Brooch: Breaking point, 2016
Rubber, alpaca, steel.
From series: The 80s
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.

Katia Rabey
Brooch: Almost there, 2017
Rubber, alpaca.
From series: The 80s
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.

Katia Rabey
Pendant: Harris, 2017
Plastic, silver, zircon.
From series: Journey to Jibbiard
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.

Katia Rabey
Earrings: Phelia & Ophelia, 2017
Plastic, silver, sapphires.
From series: Journey to Jibbiard
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.

Katia Rabey
Ring: Thompson, 2017
Plastic, rhodium-plated silver, zircon.
From series: Journey to Jibbiard
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.

Katia Rabey
Ring: Thompson, 2017
Plastic, rhodium-plated silver, zircon.
From series: Journey to Jibbiard

Open

Katia Rabey
Necklace: Cold Medal: For keeping your cool in front of utter idiocy, 2015
Perspex, alpaca, steel screws, plastic tubes, PVC, corn syrup with pigment.
From series: Cold Medals
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.

Katia Rabey
Bracelet: Fire Safety Net Watch, 2016
Sterling silver, watch mechanism, steel springs, screws, burlap, paint.
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.

Katia Rabey
Pendant: Ice Breaker, 2017
Silver, steel, Perspex, rubber cord.
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.

Katia Rabey
Ring: The Rocket, 2016
Aluminium, Swarovski crystal.
From series: Space Invaders
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.

Katia Rabey
Pendant: Garfunkel, 2016
Ceramic, rosewood, brass.
From series: Robots
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.

Katia Rabey
Brooch: Tub, 2018
Ceramic, silver, sapphire, ruby, zircon, steel.
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.

Katia Rabey

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