GATA meets JUANITA
By now, most people are familiar with celebrities donning shiny grills on their teeth, and although we have definitely seen a trend spike in recent years, mouth bling is not new. Whilst people think that old school hip hop artists like Flavour Flav and Kool G started this trend in the 80s, we have to go back to 2,500 BC, when the Mayas and Etruscans were embellishing their teeth and flaunting their golden smiles with pride, to see the origin of this trend.
Adrien Flores, the mind behind JUANITA, knows this. This is why many of his dental jewelry creations, along with the name JUANITA, were inspired by ancient cultures.
GATA team had the pleasure to talk to the designer, whose creations have been seen on big names like Isamaya French, Coucou Chloe and Yung Beef. We sat him down and talked about the influences behind JUANITA’s designs.
GATA: Dear Juanita can you please introduce yourself and what you do to the Gata family?
Juanita: Yes, of course. My name is Adrien Flores, I'm 27 years old and I live in France.
I'm trying to create new ways to decorate our bodies.
I started this project through tooth jewelry, since it is one of the areas of the body that has the most to say, and yet the exploration of its possibilities is still very little. I intend to tackle other overlooked or non-exploited body parts.
GATA: We could find a lot about your work, but we want to know more about the person behind the Grillz. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and the team behind Juanita? What were you doing before this project started?
Juanita: Yes, indeed, I rarely introduce myself when I talk about Juanita or even on social networks. I want the project to describe itself. In the end, the person behind it doesn't change much. Besides, I like to find other ways to talk about who I am, and strangely it's often in a very intimate way.
For example, "FEED ME" is the truest self-portrait I've ever done. Also, I think Juanita is composed of all the people who participate in the projects, in one way or another. That's why I really like collaborations: the limits of who created what or who thought about what become blurred. Ideas get mixed up and lose their names. Before I started this project, I did Fine Arts. I found it very rewarding. But I'm having some problems with the Fine Arts community. I'm not comfortable with exhibition spaces.That's why I like social networks. I create my own gallery, I exhibit when I want and there is no filter between me and the person who is watching.
“Audition, by Takashi Miike, is the most disturbing film I’ve ever seen”
FEED ME, 2020
GATA: We heard this project came out of the blue and you never expected to start designing teeth Grillz. What would Adrien be doing right now if this would have never happened?
Juanita: Today I'd have a little camera and I'd be making films. It's one of the art forms that I find most interesting and one of the bravest. Not only because it requires a lot of organization, but also because it has the courage to say something that is often crystal clear.
In the visual arts, we often have the possibility to leave doubt about what we say, whether it is in a painting or a sculpture.
You take another place, you don't say something clearly, you place yourself above the message and leave a large part of the interpretation to the spectator. In cinema, you need to have the courage to tell one or two or three stories in your film. It's like writing. And what I also like is that it belongs to everyone. You can see it in the cinema, but also at home on a video projector, or on a big TV, or your computer screen or even your phone. You can buy it, rent it or download it, lend it to someone you like. Watch it once or several times, take breaks. It's like books.
You can't do that with a sculpture or a painting.
GATA: Are you dedicating 100% of your time to this project?
Juanita: Yes, I am obsessive and I believe that total immersion in this project is essential to be able to develop a language of my own, a particular aesthetic. I want this project to extend its space as far as possible. I try to think of it from all angles and I am not closed to all the other artistic mediums that could enrich the project.
“I think working with people is the best thing.
Sometimes when you work with a group of people you think you understand, a misunderstanding can creep into the discussions and an object is born that neither of you had imagined. It seems to me that in the act of misunderstanding is when your brain and creativity are at their peak.”
Dental jewellery made for Ben Ditto,
picture by Isamaya Ffrench 2020
GATA: What are your key inspirations or obsessions behind your works?
Juanita: Horror movies. I think it is the most humble medium and the one that says the most. It talks about our societies and mentalities. It plays with and clearly identifies our fears and unhealthy desires, taboos, etc. It questions us about what disturbs us while taking sometimes very simple forms. And above all, horror cinema is a cinema that is often visually rich. The special effects, the make-up, the sets or the colors of the image. Although it seems to be trapped in its own codes, horror cinema doesn't meet any expectations concerning all other styles of films: romance, thriller, drama, etc…Which finally makes it one of the freest styles.
GATA: We heard that your biggest inspiration is cinema, could you name any particular movie, scene or character that inspired you to design any of your pieces and which one is it?Could you also name your 3 favorite movies?
Juanita: I don't think there's any conscious inspiration or actual scenes that would have inspired me to make a particular piece of jewellery. But it's obvious that images inspire you unconsciously, and once you digest them they come out in your designs.It's an extremely difficult question since I imagine that we like films for very different reasons.
But if I had to choose, for example, the three films that I can see dozens of times that combine entertainment and powerful messages, I would say these:
-The Strangers by Na Hong-Jin and all his other films. In a lot of Korean films, the film genres are mixed. There is thriller, horror, comedy, romance in the same film. And in many Korean films, entertainment often rhymes with auteur film, which is rare in American cinema, for example.
-Suspiria, by Dario Argento, is for me the film that has the most beautiful colors of all the films combined. The music is also legendary.
-Audition, by Takashi Miike, is the most disturbing film I've ever seen.
“These objects are luxuries, one can live without them. But if you want to have them, I think it’s good to see it as something rare and to think about it as such. Let it become sentimental.”
GATA: Imagine it’s 2080, what kind of grills will exist then?
Juanita: The term "grill" or "grillz" is a very specific term that was created to talk about tooth jewelry worn by rappers in the Hip Hop scene, in the United States around the 2000s. Before people had to have their teeth cut or removed to have gold teeth and the jewelry was permanent. It's a reversal of social codes. Before, the people who had gold in their mouths were the poor, who couldn't replace their teeth with ceramic prostheses. Gold teeth were more economical. With grills it was the opposite, gold in the mouth was a sign of wealth, and also allowed people to identify with a community.
However, I think it's not quite right to use the term Grillz in regards to the new generation of dental jewelry. Just for the sole reason that this term is still largely linked to the hip hop movement.
I think that in 2080 the materials of dental jewelry will evolve a lot. I hope that we will find ways to make it with recycled materials. I'm personally doing some tests on this.
I think what's going to change a lot about grills is how they're received by the general public. Big brands are going to come out and offer their grills made by their incredible craftspeople, and tooth jewelry is going to enter the jewelry lexicon, just like earrings or necklaces.
5FACEFILAMENT 2019
GATA: We can see that you have been working with many different talented artists. Was this an important thing for you deciding to spend more of your energy into this project?
Juanita: I think working with people is the best thing about collaborations. Sometimes when you work with a group of people you think you understand, a misunderstanding can creep into the discussions and an object is born that neither of you had imagined. It seems to me that in the act of misunderstanding is when your brain and creativity are at their peak.
So working with a context allows you to frame the imagination, it helps you get into drawing and prototyping. Anything is possible in creation and sometimes we drown in too many possibilities. Sometimes we just lack a guideline to make ideas flow. I also like the fact that there is an exchange of surprises. Often what I find frustrating when working alone is that the result is very similar to the original idea.You get the impression that you know the result right from the start and the realisation becomes a compulsory but not very exciting step.
On the contrary, when you work in a team, you never know what the other person is going to do exactly. It adds uncertainty and surprise, which I think is great.
“I’m not comfortable with exhibition spaces.That’s why I like social networks. I create my own gallery,I exhibit when I want and there is no filter between me and the person who is watching.”
CRI, mouthpiece
for Cécile Serres 2017
2020
GATA: A grill is an accessory that still not everyone can wear and afford, would you like this to become more accessible for everyone at any point?
Juanita: It's true that dental jewelry does look expensive. But so is tattooing. It's just that tattooing is more democratised and has a longer history so people are used to the prices.
In dental jewelry, the materials are very expensive, whether it is the metals, materials for the casting, or the design of the working model, and there is a lot of work time put into each piece, since they are all unique. Depending on the jewel chosen, there can be several days of work on it.The price of dental jewellery can be lowered by producing online and therefore reducing the working time. This type of jewelry finds a great part of its beauty in its uniqueness and I think it is important that this remains so. That's why we only accept a few orders per month, in order to have the time to realize them calmly.
These objects are luxuries, one can live without them. But if you want to have them, I think it's good to see it as something rare and to think about it as such. Let it become sentimental.
MEDICINE
mouthpiece made for artist Stephanie Quirola 2019
IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE 2019
“My Inspirations are horror movies. I think it is the most humble medium and the one that says the most. It talks about our societies and mentalities. It plays with and clearly identifies our fears and unhealthy desires, taboos, etc. It questions us about what disturbs us while taking sometimes very simple forms”
GATA: What is next? Where do you see you and your career going in the next 10 years?
Juanita: I'm working on a lot of very exciting projects. I think that in 10 years time Juanita will have expanded her field of research and will have taken on very different forms of expression.
Stills from the video “THE FUTURE WAS DARK”
of artist Stephanie Quirola wearing « Medicine » mouthpiece 2020