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The Birth collection is full of natural references, evoking the minimal and ephemeral landscape interventions made by artists in the 1960s and 70s. You might even connect the Land Art movement’s alterations to the minimal and atemporal forms your pieces cast on the body. How has nature and this cannon of sculpture had such an influence on Jakhu Studio?

MB:
The collection is connected with the conceptual symbolism of the circle, spiral or sphere, and how these universal symbols are attached to human beings. Nature is based on geometry and these symbols have a powerful meaning within them. Since ancient traditions, these symbols have been rooted to everyday life. Nowadays, you can still find them in society, within film, sculpture, art and pretty much everywhere.

Specifically for this collection, the circle, sphere and spiral were the main inspiration. Throughout the collection, I tried to decode the meaning of those symbols. Another inspiration was The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch, which appears in the collection mood board.

For me, Bosch´s painting is a very powerful representation of the sphere, the world and humanity; it explains how we are composed. It is incredible how it depicts the three dimensionalities of humanity and showcases that everything in humanity is circulating the sphere. For that reason, in this collection, I used the sphere in different areas, mainly in earrings and utilised its trace to create that sense of a spatial dimension and movement. 

Aesthetically, this collection and the digital materials you’ve developed around it, contain at their core Surrealist references, with nods to artists such as Man Ray and René Magritte, and shades of Imogen Cunningham’s poetic photographs. What made you turn to these references for inspiration? 

MB: 
They are linked to the unconscious. For example, Man Ray works with the world of unconsciousness and the unconscious can symbolise rebirth. Rebirth is a constant process, but we are usually unaware of it.

Te be reborn involves action and movement: to spin, turn and rotate. If you don't become aware of the change that rebirth conveys, you cannot learn from that process. That is the reason why I consider the unconscious very important for humans.

PA:
You also have some very beautiful references such as Picasso's light drawings. 

MB:
Yes, I love those works by Picasso. The pieces from the Rebirth collection are about movement. It is impossible to be reborn without movement and energy, and these elements exist within us. They drive us to move forward, rotate and look around. The rationale behind Picasso´s light drawings is to record that constant movement because we are moving all the time, but we are not conscious about it and we need to be more aware about the effects of that movement. 

The pieces reflect the light around them. Some of them are flat, but they have a powerful track of movement. I was trying to remind people of how powerful they can be. The pieces sometimes contain a very powerful finish and a hypnotic effect when you see the light reflecting in them.

PA:
Some of the pieces indicate movement and its traces, even when they are static and are not being worn. It is a brilliant concept. You could say that with the pieces you created for this collection, you are trying to accentuate these attitudes and make people more conscious about what is happening in their lives.

How has your collaborative practice with Peruvian silversmiths shaped your creative process and informed the development of the collections?

MB:
We have learned from each other how to communicate through the simple language of geometry.

The main artisan I worked with in Peru, posses a vision connected to her Inca ancestry and I consider that I bring a more objective vision. Geometry is very embedded in her culture and heritage. Her unconscious way of looking into geometry in everyday life influences how she communicates with me and therefore, how I design. We communicate through diagrams or drawings and notes around them, and this is how we collaboratively create the pieces. Sometimes, I bring up references from her Inca ancestry that she did not incorporate into her work before our collaboration.

Geometric language is universal, but more often people are forgetting about this. We are surrounded by many universal symbols, but we are not training ourselves to see them and read deeper into the references that are part of our collective consciousness. Even in the mountains, sometimes people forget about this or they don't consciously work with these symbols. Together, we are building our communication around universal symbols and reminding each other of those symbols. She gave me another perspective of how we can spin a circle in three dimensional ways. We test these ideas together to transform simple geometry into a three-dimensional plane. Her vision was flatter and now we are discovering how to turn it and transform it into other dimensionalities. 

PA:
Many of the references that you have, even though they are photographs, paintings or drawings; seem quite three dimensional, they possess depth produced by the light or the perspective.

MB:
Movement was very important for this collection and with movement, you can spin and rotate. In the previous collection, we focused more on flat objects, but for this collection, we considered rebirth as movement and to represent this concept we needed to create different perspectives.

And conversely, how have digital materialities influenced your practice and Jakhu Studio´s vision?

MB: 
Digital tools are essential to the way we produce the pieces and for communicating with the team in Peru and the brand´s audience. Especially because we are an international label having a presence in London and Peru, and looking to expand to other markets. 

They also make it possible for us to design a piece and produce a test sample within days, which is amazing. Instagram, FaceTime and other ways of communication like WhatsApp facilitate this. In addition, Instagram is the main outlet to show your work nowadays. 

Using these tools is completely necessary, for simple things like editing a video or photo and present your ideas in different ways. They enable us to communicate through video, images and technology in order to present the collections. They are an extension of what we do and are completely immersed organically in the project, in our life in general.  

This idea leads to the next question. The video presenting the 013 collection draws on the photo-roman technique employed by Chris Marker to compose La Jetée (1962), where photomontage and text are the main media guiding the spectator through the film. Could you tell us about your choice to use this way of storytelling?

MB:
This film is connected to surrealism and there is a voice-over narrating the story. I used photomontage because I have discovered when you work with a succession of images, it provides more movement and a three-dimensional plane. The voice combined with the images, create an expanded experience. The effect is different from presenting a photograph or a static image.
For me, because we were working with universal symbols and trying to connect these with collective unconsciousness, the best way to present it was through surrealism and getting into the unconscious of people.

PA: 
That notion is beautiful. Especially when you think of Luis Buñuel and other surrealist filmmakers.

MB: 
With surrealism, you do not have to think straight, the ideas flow through the unconscious like when you are dreaming. You don't have to immediately understand it. You already possess the knowledge and are aware. Our mind is in control most of the time, it wants to control everything, identify and comprehend everything, but the unconsciousness knowledge is always there. Even if you are not knowledgable on art or sculpture, you understand the objects or the active movement behind them. 

PA:
I think you end up producing very impactful images. The videos are incredibly gorgeous. They contain images of condensed moments. The video you created to present this collection has an incredible moment when the model looks straight at you. I consider that scene resembles a painting in motion.

Your latest video, produced for Peru’s 2020 Fashion Week and presented online, is a guided mediation through Google Earth. What was your thinking behind choosing this app to create the narrative of the film?

MB:
I was looking to locate the audience through the GPS and create a navigation. My idea was to take people there. I've been lucky enough to have the possibility to be in the Peruvian mountains, which are full of marvellous tradition and nature. They are striking and stunning. The project’s core is there and I wanted people to visit these mountains and feel something. It was possible somehow to travel to the mountains utilising the app, discover the locality through the GPS and visit the workshop. I was trying to bring people there personally from a macro perspective to an intimate micro view. 

PA:
When you mentioned moving people through space, and considering COVID-19. It reminded me of 1950s films where they used a map and the image of an aeroplane to transport the audience across geographies. It is a very contemporary take on this resource. 

MB:
I miss travelling so much, I have been using the app to imagine myself going there because I don't know when I am going to be able to go there next. I was missing it and through the app, my imagination was able to travel. It was a great opportunity to bring the audience into the mountains through an aerial view and an extrasensory experience, where I added natural sounds. It is also connected to the Bosch´s tryptic, which also has a beautiful aerial view of the world.

Could you tell us about your process decoding these ideas into Jakhu Studio’s online presentation? And how you expect the visitor to navigate through these narratives, between the website and the studio Instagram account?

MB:
I love film, and I believe through films you can create a more meaningful experience and evoke feelings. I can't imagine the brand narrative developing through still images, that would be impossible from my point of view. All these ideas we have been discussing need to be felt and films make it possible to create that instant experience.

PA:
Are you expecting people to discover the brand through experience?

MB:
Yes, that is the reason why I build the films to create an emotive response in a short period. Usually, before your eyes recognize what they are seeing, your mind creates a reaction and learns the essence behind the brand. Film has allowed me to represent my ideas in a very powerful and elegant way. 

Finally, what new materials and visuals have caught your attention lately? Especially during the lockdown, have you been focused on certain elements or references?

MB: 
Flowers, because I consider we are in a blooming phase. Somehow, we were locked or blocked, we could not bloom as we would like to. I've been researching about flowers in books, internet and recording videos whilst having walks. I love their beautiful shapes. 

PA:  
It is very interesting, especially considering the concept of time and how we perceive time at the moment. It reminded me of a reference I was reading about the other day, where they explained that machines comprehend humans as we perceive plants in time. We move 10,000 times faster than plants and machines process information 10,000 faster than us.

MB: 
I was looking at how flowers were opening independently from what was happening in the world. Nature was blooming and we were somehow in darkness. In London it was springtime, so I started paying attention to flowers and wondering if nature could bring me the energy to continue growing. I learned from their shape, movement and colour.

PA:
It is a nice concept, coming from the collection that we were discussing and now looking at flowers, linking them to movement and the idea of rebirth. 

MB:
I am not interested in representing them figuratively, but working with their essence and what they metaphorically mean for humans. Besides, during my last trip to Peru, I collected a series of objects that are connected to flowers. Most of my recent work in progress is linked to flowers. The idea of working with flowers was seeded in January or February, but I have been developing it further during lockdown. Our next collection will be focused on them.

Within my online research, I have been looking at Robert Mapplethorpe work with flowers. It is gorgeous. Flowers are full of colour, but he works in black and white. I love colour, but I prefer white and black because it is atemporal, universal, elegant and sublime. I surround myself with colours, but when I have to codify an idea digitally, whether it is an image or video, I cannot put it in colours. Normally, if I have to represent an idea with my perspective, there is a high probability I am going to do it utilising black and white. 

When you present a flower in black and white, depending on your experience, your mind will add colour and the sensation of the colour. In this way it gives the choice whether to add the colour to the audience and I find that more accessible. 

All Images | Andree Martis | via Jakhu Studio Instagram
VISIT THEIR WEBSITE HERE

Thank you for reading,
Pita Arreola & Cluster Team.