When Marie-Caroline Locquet looks at a piece of jewelry, she does not see a conventional symbol of wealth, power, or social standing. Instead, she sees a tool for disruption—an instrument capable of evoking discomfort, challenging public space, and confronting our shared human fragility. By producing works that blur the lines between defensive weapons, architectural restraints, and intimate body ornaments, Locquet has established a radical practice that redefines what contemporary jewelry can be.
Her uncompromising vision has recently earned her recognition as a finalist for the prestigious Young Artist Award. Supported generously by Karen and Michael Rotenberg, this biennial prize acknowledges exceptional promise, innovation, and uncompromising individuality in the work of an emerging jewelry artist aged 35 or younger. Through this award, the Art Jewelry Forum (AJF) seeks to champion daring, boundary-pushing work that will actively inspire future developments and critical conversations within the broader field of art jewelry.
For Locquet, being selected as a finalist is far more than a resume milestone; it is a meaningful validation of a creative trajectory she has pursued with unwavering focus for several years. It provides the necessary confidence to continue pushing her practice further into radical territory, challenging not only herself as a maker, but also the wearer who dares to put on the piece and the viewer who encounters it in a gallery or public space.
Challenging the Boundaries of Adornment
Locquet’s artistic journey began at the very outset of her formal art studies, a time when she first encountered works that completely shattered her preconceived notions of what jewelry could accomplish. Rather than gravitating toward aesthetics centered on conventional beauty or the display of affluence, she was drawn to objects that felt strange, uneasy, and inherently dangerous. She cites the pioneering work of artists like Bernhard Schobinger and Dorothea Prühl as pivotal influences that forever shifted her perspective on art.
"It really changed my point of view on art. In a way, jewelry interests me as an object of disruption, reflection, and provocation," Locquet explains. Entering the field filled with questions and burning curiosity, she found herself obsessed with a central inquiry: Why make and wear jewelry that appears so deeply disturbing at first glance? What does it truly mean to craft an object that seems fundamentally "unwearable"? This exploration of unwearability quickly evolved into the core engine of her ongoing artistic research.
Growing up in the north of France, Locquet experienced firsthand the societal pressure of self-demonstration and the subtle ways people use adornment to camouflage their social affiliations. This early exposure fostered a conceptual approach to the medium. To Locquet, jewelry is a subject of rigorous study rather than a mere exercise in aesthetic affinity. Each piece she creates disrupts the traditional status of jewelry, transforming it from a passive showcase object into an active confrontation within the public sphere.
Her works are purposefully devoid of seduction or polite representation. Instead, they lean heavily into disturbance, violence, vulnerability, and confinement. By pushing materials to their absolute physical limits, she strips them down to reveal their true nature through stark forms that evoke both deep-seated desire and the shadow of death. Whether functioning as defensive weapons or intricate restraint devices, her creations offer a singular wearing experience that forces both the wearer and the observer to confront the fragile realities of the human condition.
Exploring Confinement, History, and the Body
In her application for the Young Artist Award, Locquet presented a cohesive body of work that maintains a delicate, unsettling tension between social discomfort and the temptation of an embrace. Over the years, the themes of confinement, physical violence, and bodily vulnerability running through her practice have led her to draw inspiration from historic and cultural artifacts of subjugation and labor. These include the collier d’appartenance—a collar traditionally given by a person to those who submit to them within submissive relationships—as well as the "slave collar," rooted in 19th-century Norman and Auvergnat marriage traditions as a token of possession, and heavy animal-labor tools like the horse collar.
Among the standout pieces featured in her portfolio is Hands (2024), a striking neckpiece meticulously crafted from elm wood, zinc-plated steel, and silver. According to the artist, this piece vividly exposes the multiple layers that define her creative output. It highlights her obsessive, ongoing research into mechanical systems, complex movements, elaborate clasps, and the fluid border where jewelry dissolves into sculpture.
When displayed, the piece unfolds and occupies the surrounding space like an intricate mechanical apparatus, only to close tightly around the neck with an unsettling gesture reminiscent of strangulation. It stands as one of her most complex and intimate creations, capturing the raw essence of confinement and physical violence. Her portfolio also includes other notable pieces such as Armor I (2026), a forged steel neckpiece produced during her artist-in-residency program at the Estonian Academy of Arts (EKA) in Tallinn, and Attelage II (2024), crafted from elm wood, nickel silver, and steel.
Beyond individual objects, Locquet is deeply fascinated by the broader societal implications of body ornament. She believes that everything worn on the human body draws upon the references, boundaries, and underlying values of the culture that produces it. Several years ago, she initiated an extensive iconographic research project and collection centered on worn and unwearable items, operating under the provocative working "Unwearable—adornment is impure, makeup is obscene, disguise is an abomination." This ongoing research continually demonstrates to her how ornament, the moment it connects with the living body, can articulate volumes about social representations, cultural norms, and the constant oscillation between the private interior sphere and the public space.
Confronting Frustrations and Embracing the Future
Despite her passion for the medium, Locquet does not shy away from the challenges and frustrations inherent in the art jewelry world. Reflecting on an exhibition she co-curated with colleagues and friends during Munich Jewellery Week (MJW) in 2018 titled Jewelry Is Still a Risky Business—a direct nod to a work by Paul Derrez—she firmly believes that contemporary jewelry must retain its capacity for risk.
She candidly notes that contemporary jewelry is still frequently burdened by the expectation to justify its existence within the broader landscape of contemporary art. During her time studying jewelry in a French fine art school, she frequently encountered the dismissive notion that the medium was somehow "lesser," superficial, or merely a niche craft. While she views this outsider status as a potential strength that opens up alternative ways of looking and thinking, she also acknowledges that it reveals a persistent distance between the art jewelry field and wider audiences outside its established community.
This realization informs why certain pieces in her repertoire, such as Panicroom Vector I (2025)—an imposing neckpiece constructed from iron, elm wood, silver, and rubber, recently exhibited at A-Galerii in Tallinn—lean toward a more literal conceptual language. These works serve as accessible keys, inviting viewers to enter the complex universe of her practice. Being named a finalist for the Young Artist Award serves as a powerful confirmation that her uncompromising approach is striking the right chord.
Looking ahead to the next five years, Locquet remains grounded in the rhythms of an artist’s daily life. Having graduated just five years ago, she is thrilled with the evolution of her practice, which increasingly extends beyond the jewelry object itself to encompass spatial installations that allow the work and its environment to resonate in unison. She plans to continue expanding her artistic language, applying for international residencies, and collaborating with fellow artists.
Furthermore, she harbors a strong interest in academic research and teaching, viewing educational spaces as ideal environments to reinvent and push forward collective notions of body ornament. By continuing to extend, deform, and question traditional definitions of jewelry, Marie-Caroline Locquet is poised to remain a provocative and vital voice in the field for years to come.
