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JorJan Borlin
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The idea of people living in art not just living with art fascinates me. I think that wearing art is a dramatic way of expressing yourself and that it intimately influences your environment. Clothing is a uniquely human way of communicating. Most of us spend a large portion of our lives wearing clothing that tells other people that we are an executive, a doctor, a lawyer, a computer programmer, or whatever. Rarely do we wear clothing that lets someone know who we really are. My clothing helps people say who they really are and share the beauty, the strength and the energy within themselves. People who buy my jackets and necklaces often say something like, "this makes me smile", "this feels like it was made for me", or "this makes me so happy." Perhaps it is appropriate that I live in the middle of the country. I am interested in the middle, that line/frontier where opposites meet -- life and death, civilization and wilderness, real and synthetic, realistic and abstract, East and West, good and evil, glitz and simplicity, growth and decay...I think that is where the deep power is. And, I believe the effort I use to create an item can give energy to the wearer. I use whatever technique (knitting, weaving, kiln firing...) or material (glass, silver, wool, silk...) seems best for my idea. My things are never really out of style, because they are never really in style. Worry about being "in style" prevents capitalizing on our own style. It takes a strong person to wear my things -- you will not blend into the crowd!
P.S. I will be teaching a beading class on April 26, 2008, at Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts in Mineral Point, WI. See www.shakeragalley.com/pages/workshops/jewelry.html Last Edited March 12, 2008
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