The 9 Necklaces of Freedom

In this work, The Nine Necklaces of Liberty, the artist alludes to the Brazilian story of runaway slaves who would escape in their owners extravagant jewellery and leave the pieces draped in tree boughs as they fled. Hence the enormous necklaces hanging from the branches of the trees in the hospital grounds. Jean-Michel Othoniel’s art revolves around large-scale glass sculptures that examine such themes as fragility, transformation and ephemerality through their delicate surfaces and beauty, which take the viewer into unexplored territory. Like the works produced for Made by... Feito por Brasileiros, monumental glass-bead necklaces twisted and looped in public gardens and galleries are one of his trademarks. His fascination for glass stems from the material’s malleability and capacity for transmutation.