Shadow-work
This project explores trauma through contemporary jewellery, grounded in a somatic perspective of trauma responses. It focuses on how trauma is not only psychological, but also deeply physical, affecting the body’s posture, tension, and movement. The work is based on the idea that the body can remain in a state of perceived threat even after danger has passed, holding defensive or protective postures as a form of embodied memory.
The aim is to translate these bodily responses into jewellery, turning invisible internal states into wearable forms. It challenges the idea that healing is linear, instead suggesting it is fragmented, repetitive, and ongoing.
The project also draws on ritual as a way of processing and containing emotional experience, using repetitive making gestures and symbolic forms to reflect attempts to regain control, grounding, or safety. Jewellery becomes part of this ritual space, acting as both object and action—something that can be worn, touched, and engaged with as embodied reflection.
I worked through material experimentation using techniques such as chasing and repoussé, forging, lost-wax casting, 3D printing, silver and gold plating, CNC-carving, and powder coating. I focused on tension, repetition, layering, and distortion to reflect bodily restriction, protection, and emotional residue. The process included sketching, material testing, and iterative making, allowing forms to emerge through interaction with concept and material.
The final outcome is a series of contemporary jewellery pieces that function as somatic artefacts. They sit close to the body and reflect different physical and emotional states linked to trauma, acting as extensions of bodily memory rather than decorative objects.
Overall, the project positions contemporary jewellery as a medium for exploring embodied trauma, ritual, and non-linear healing, making internal bodily experience visible through material form.
@laurelhin
urahin1241@gmail.com
www.konsthantverkscentrum.se/medlem/laura-alejandra-hinojosa-johansson/