This work is driven by my curiosity in the Pre-Hispanic jewelry from Northern Peru and its most ancient cultures Vicús (1250 BC-1 AD), Moche (1- 800 AD) and Chimú (1300-1532 AD). I am captivated by the enormous symbolic value Peruvians gave to metals and how their distinctive colors were connected to the celestial world. For these ancient cultures the gold shone like the sun and it represented the day and all that was masculine, while silver represented the moon, the night and all that was considered feminine. (Museo Larco. Lima, Peru)

For the creation of this work, my vision is centered in creating wearable jewelry that can not only stimulate curiosity in the viewer, but more importantly, communicate the way ancient cultures understood the world through a lens of contemporary design. I developed my interpretation of these ideas by incorporating specific details and techniques that were utilized by these ancient cultures in particular the integration of texture, sound and brightness that only metal can add to any piece. I then combined these with elements that characterize and play a significant role in my previous work: asymmetric shapes and repetition.

To complement and reinforce my designs and understanding of the cultures I am inspired by, I apply techniques that were used by ancient metalworkers to produce all my pieces in this collection. These included lost wax casting, gilding, raising and hammering to create different textures on the metal.