Hello again,
It is an interesting point that you raise. I too am tattooed (a full
backpiece and a smaller one on my left arm). It never cross my mind
to include a symbol of our trade in my inks althought they are both
highly symbolic of my identity and faith.
Oddly, I tend to consider jewellery and metalwork, as I practice it,
like some sort of martial art. It envolves body and spirit, profound
concentration and awareness, the gestures have to be fluid and
harmonious…(this could be an entire new discussion… ) the way
I work reflect my personnality.
Nevertheless, as an individual I can’t be resumed to a jeweller or
metalsmith. I am much more than that… The trade is more a mean of
expression for my self than my identity itself.
Moreover, I don’t consider myself as a traditional jeweller and
wouldn’t like to be systematically associate with it. (Despite this,
I
really like the idea of belonging to the Orchid community)
In ancient Japan, craftperson had their trade and skills tattooed.
This was useful at that time because there was no schools as we
figure it nowaday, and most of the people couldn’t read. Their
tattoos were their diplomas. Not that long ago, in France,
“Compagnons” (members of a famous guild in the building crafts) had a
solid gold earring as a recognisable mark and some still wear it.
If belonging to a trade, guild or community (of whatever it could
be) is percieved as an advantage, I suppose that showing it through a
symbol or a mark is natural. the counterpart is that showing this
belonging includes a responsability toward this entire community as
one’s behaviour could affect all its members. As our western
societies
tend to lead us to individualism and, in a paradoxical way, urge us
to fit in, the more we have to fit, the more we want to be unique. We
have numerous means to achieve this, through our clothes, hairstyles,
the choice of a car… Plus, most of western people don’t keep the
same job all their lifes. Nowadays we have a lot of “recognizable
mark” for all sorts of belongings but most of them are not permanent
(school rings, uniforms, or simply wearing a suit and tie in a hot
summer, even fashion…), Associating oneself with one’s job through
a permanent body modification becomes tricky and uncomfortable.
Will I be a jeweller for all my life? Who knows? Maybe not… but
I’ll allways be me.
So, to answer your point: no, it has little to do with the
association with slavery. It is more because of its "reductiveness"
that I didn’t show the trade in my inks. However,… I like to think
that I own my skills and that my skills do not own me. (typical
french obsession for freedom, lol).
Juliette Arda
Artiste-Bijoutiere
Aix en Provence, France