Tobias Alm is an artist who dives right into the social functions of jewellery, in this case in relation to the view of masculinity. In the exhibition, we are greeted by a worn leather tool belt with the addition of gilded silver. We also see two brooches in which tool holders are combined with chiselled and gilded parts in the Rococo style.

Historically, one of the central functions of jewellery is to serve as a symbol. Jewellery can be used to express a person's position, it can be used to reinforce and consolidate roles and reinforce someone's identity. Men's jewellery often has a function, such as tie pins and cufflinks.

Tool belts can act as a symbol of handedness and what are traditionally seen as masculine qualities. In fact, like jewellery, tool belts can be used to reinforce a role, a position and an identity. By looking at the tool belt as if it were a piece of jewellery, Alm sheds light on the complex relationship between jewellery and masculinity.

The starting point for the works in the exhibition was a comparison between the tool belt of today and the historical Châtelaine jewellery. A Châtelaine was originally a practical bundle of tools for a housewife, which over the years evolved into a complex and luxurious ornament worn by both men and women.

Alms' jewellery, which combines the gold-plated parts of the tool belt, puts its finger on the symbolic and social functions of the tool belt. Here, slippages between traditional notions of gender and jewellery can occur.

Tobias Alm was born in 1985 and works in Stockholm.

Title: Câtelaine (Hammer or Flashlight Holder) (Quick Release ToolSnap), (Hammer or Flashlight Holder, brooch)

Material: leather, silver plated, ruby, steel, velvet and nylon.

Technique: chasing, mixing technique.