Caio Mahin
he/they
Lisbon, Portugal
Caio Mahin is a Brasilian queer artist based in Lisbon Portugal. They majored in Design at the Federal University of Pernambuco (Brasil), with a CAPES sandwich scholarship at Rochester Institute of Technology (USA), where they were first introduced to Contemporary Jewellery. After that, Caio completed the course of jewellery at ArCo (Portugal), having their thesis project supported by Tereza Seabra Scholarship, with which they were invited to the 2021 Designers in Residence program at Emma Kreativzentrum Pforzheim. Caio has participated in many exhibitions throughout Europe and the US and is currently working in Lisbon by combining studio practice with third party jewellery design.
“My first experiences with jewellery were violent. A memory: Growing up in Northeast Brazil as a queer child, at the age of 9, I told my parents I wanted to pierce my ears. My father’s response was, in a dilemma between his internalized homophobia and his desire to be understanding, to go outside and look for the sharpest thing he could find - a rusty hand size garden rake - and then to tell me he himself would pierce me. It was clear that the feminine aura of jewellery turned dangerous to me, even though that same aura represented my deepest need for expression.
Of course, I went on with my plan and got only the left ear pierced, mainly because doing it on the right side was said to be a sign of homosexuality and I was not ready to embrace such signaling. In fact, during the next couple of years I had that same spot pierced six or seven times for it would insist on closing up every time. When I think about that, I wonder how grand it was the need for adornment I had that made me repeat such treatment to my own body so many times until I finally got what I wanted--openness.”
"Late Maracatu 1", Oxidized copper and stainless steel wire, 4.5" x 2.6" x .4", 2024
“Being queer influences my work immensely. My story and my identity have given me scars and traumas but, most importantly, perspectives that I naturally use everyday in the studio when making choices. I believe I am naturally driven to the uneven, the broken, the organic, because during the construction of myself as a queer individual, I have learned that those are characteristics that gift uniqueness to an object - they turn into something precious.
In other words, my material choices are usually of rebel behavior. Metals that are hard to flatten or solder, or that will easily oxidate. Wood that will chip, fabric that will rip. I want destiny to also have a say in the process, and allow the material to also show me their scars."
What does being queer mean to you in relation to your material choices? Is it something you consider?
"Late Maracatu 2", Oxidized copper and stainless steel wire, 3" x 2.1" x .4", 2024
Is the work queer because the maker is queer, or is it queer because the subject matter is queer?
“As a self-referential artist, I think that both because the maker is queer and, since I address my life in the work, the subject is queer too. I find it hard to see one thing apart from the other. In my pieces, I try to high light mistakes and accidents such as solder stains, risks, plier marks and so on because I see them as gestures of a brush. In connection to what I said in the last answer, these are my scars showing: the impaciency, the breathe, the parts I really cared about versus the ones I was sloppy. I want it all to be out, I want the viewer to know my truth which is incomplete without my queerness."
"Late Maracatu 3", Oxidized copper, synthetic sapphire and stainless steel wire, 3.1" x 1.5" x .4", 2024
Anything else you would like to share about this work? This can be an important part of the process, sourcing materials, or research.
“This series is inspired by the Song ‘Frevo no2 do Recife’, which is a popular song sang during the Carnaval in Northeast Brasil, where I am from. The lyrics talks about how the singer misses the city of Recife and how, as time goes by, their memories of the place start to fade. As an immigrant living in Europe, this song has gotten a whole new meaning for me so I decided to give shape to my own ghostly memories of Carnaval."