Diamonds under my skin: very personal jewellery.

Presented in the context of Les Htmlles feminist media art festival at the Rats9 Gallery.

Diamonds are real.
Diamonds are forever.
Diamonds are valuable.
Diamonds are a girl's best friend.

I am a trans woman.
We are often told that we are not real women, not real.
We are massively underemployed, depressed, under-valued.

Maybe by inserting diamonds in me i'll gain some of their magical properties.
Maybe their value will leach out in my flesh. Maybe I'll be worth something. Maybe I'll become real.


Implanting diamonds under my skin will make them disappear from the eyes,
they will vanish from the market forever, their value will be negated,
My eventual death will complete the process of economic nullification.
as they will be returned to the earth with my body.
Diamonds are the product of pain, they are extracted from the earth by the exploitation of human labour, they cause conflict and suffering. I hope, maybe naively, that cutting my skin open and inserting them inside me will let me appreciate that fact.













photos by Jessica MacCormack and Morgan Sea,