Carolina Vélez Filigree
Carolina Vélez is a silversmith who specializes in the art of Filigree in Santa Fé de Antioquia, a colonial town outside the city of Medellín where the practice of Filigree dates back to the 1800s.
Filigree is the art of delicate, lacelike ornamental design composed of intertwined threads of gold or silver. Metalworking in Santa Fé de Antioquia is the result of the fusion of knowledge, tools, and styles from Hispano-Arabic, Indigneous, and African people that came together as a result of the Spanish colonization of modern day Colombia. Traditionally Filigree has been worked in gold, but today silver is the primary material.
An art historically dominated by men, Carolina is one of few women practicing Filigree in Colombia. She began to take interest in the art of Filigree after making an anthropological research visit to Santa Fé when she was in college. After many attempts going from workshop to workshop asking if she could become an apprentice, she finally was accepted by one and now is recognized for her work!
Support Carolina and treat yourself to some bespoke Filigree earrings that will turn heads:
