Arita

Jewellery does not have a long tradition in Japan. Decoration has, as well as Symbols. Among the most traditional motifs in tattoos, prints, paintings on porcelain and kimonos, you find scales everywhere. Big and small, of different colours, of different meanings. Those of a dragon, a koi fish, or a snake, those representing waves of water or the petals of a lotus flower. They could all look quiet similar despite their various meanings. A dragon, for example, stands for wisdom and the force of good, while Koi means determination, courage and desire for success. The snake represents good luck and change, and water means movement, fluidity and life. I liked the idea of putting a `second skin´ on your skin – a skin of scales made in porcelain and with a great symbolic meaning. All the pieces of this collection for Arita2016 are handmade in the south of Japan, on Kyushu island by Hataman Toen. In a valley that used to be guarded so no one could leave or enter just like that, it was the place where the porcelain for the emperor was produced and secrets had to be kept.