Bio
Jason Thomson aka JJ was born in Lake Bluff, Illinois, and currently lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he creates contemporary jewelry in his studio. He earned a BFA from the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater in 2016 and an MFA from the University of North Texas 2019.
Thomson combines traditional metalsmithing techniques with digital fabrication to create wearable jewelry using found materials from K–12 school desks. His work has been featured in the Triple Parade Biennale for Contemporary Jewellery in Shanghai, China; the 32nd KJDA Exhibition; American Craft Fest; Invisible: VisAble at the Abernathy Arts Center in Atlanta, Georgia; and Materials: Hard + Soft, the International Contemporary Craft Competition and Exhibition in Denton, Texas.
His work has also been featured in Permanent 2017 in Lille, France, and published in Metalsmith magazine in conjunction with the Repair and Renewal exhibition. Thomson Also presented at the Digital Meets Handmade Symposium in New York at FIT, and his work was included in the 4th Annual Triple Parade in Shanghai, China.
My work challenges opinions and educates people further about Disability. For much of human history, individuals with disabilities have been mistreated, overlooked, and relegated to the margins of society. Drawing on my own experiences as a person with a disability, my work captures disability through various metalsmithing techniques, including stone setting, hammer texture, and engraving. These repetitive textures and words on the surface capture my experience of having ADHD, Auditory Processing Disorder, Reading Disorder, and Writing Expression Disorder.
In the process, stones are set, hidden from view as a representation of the value of Disability as a part of the wearer’s identity. The wearer is given the autonomy of sharing all or only parts of themselves. The jewelry itself acts as a stand-in/physical representation of the Disability itself. As texture, the information of the overlapping text becomes illegible, and the meaning is lost in understanding. My work highlights the ongoing need for disability rights movements in today's society by creating wearable or sculptural objects. This work reveals the reality of Disability in public view.