„Frauenfleiss“ was inspired by a collection of snippets from an old German women’s magazine for handcrafts by the same title, originating from the beginning of the 20th century, which Jana Machatova found in the attic of her house.

She recognized them as timestamps in the life of an unknown woman whose dreams of a better life at the beginning of the 20th century were snuffed out prematurely by tragic historical events: two world wars and an ensuing abusive political system. 

In the timeless brooches she creates, she skilfully contrasts symbolic moments of hope and female creativity with the starkness of circumstances and external realities imposed upon us during our lives.

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Jana Machatova graduated from the Department of Metal & Jewelry Design at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava (under the direction of Anton Cepka)  and focuses on the theme of personal, family and fantasy memory. Through the lens of sentimental-ironic poetics as well as political and social criticism she creates  lush narratives and metaphors from former socialist Czechoslovakia, which can be translated into any current oppressive contexts.