Author Information:

Nicolas Estrada (Medellín, 1972) discovered his artistic pathway in Barcelona, a city that he had come to for entirely different reasons. Until that point, he had been an inhabitant of the business world, where he was involved in marketing. His destiny, however, was to follow another path: creating one-off jewellery artworks that were meaningful, unique and infused with stories that speak to the senses. At Barcelona’s Llotja and Massana schools, he came into contact with the jewellery world for the first time, where he discovered that his efforts opened up infinite possibilities for expression to him. He is a tireless researcher of his craft, and his curiosity and his passion for this discipline have led him into different territories via a path toward balance and perfection. He has studied widely, learning the techniques of gemology, setting and engraving, as well as producing research and works through his involvement in, for example, the traditional Berber jewellery of Kabylia, the filigree techniques practised in the Colombian town of Santa Cruz de Mompox, and master’s-level studies in gemstone carving and jewellery design at the University of Trier in Germany. The subjects that Nicolas takes inspiration from for his pieces directly relate to the humanity and sensibility of those who view them. They are not pieces that seek to defend or take positions on situations that are undeniably central and significant in his country and his continent. Instead, they are the pure and clear gaze of an artist who seeks, through the tools offered by his artistic work, to provide new perspectives. For Nicolas, each piece of jewellery is imbued with immense power and value. A poetic offering of the kind contained in Nicolas’s work emerges through interpreting his powerful and meaning-laden artistic reflections, which are conveyed in an intimate dialogue between the object and the other’s gaze. Professionally, Nicolas Estrada develops the extraordinary and the provocative. His work is a hymn to irreverence and reflection, and it is immersed in the aura of a discipline practised with judgment and deep thought. His uniqueness has led him to work for companies like Novasol Spray, for which he was invited to develop a line of special products for the jewellery world: eleven colours and three spray products for the jeweller’s workshop. Over the course of 2018, Nicolas gave lectures and workshops at universities and art centres in England, Germany and the United States. He led a workshop on visual documentation for jewellery students from Birmingham City University and a gave a “Talking Practice” lecture at the School of Jewellery in Birmingham (UK); he was "Mainstage Speaker" at Makers Across Disciplines Engage, the 47th Annual Conference of the Society of North American Goldsmiths held in Portland, Oregon (USA); and he taught a group of students from the Pakistan Institute of Fashion and Design on the design course “Transforming non-traditional jewellery materials into jewellery” at the Akademie für Gestaltung und Design in Munich (Germany). In 2019, he was invited to represent his homeland, Colombia, at World Art Tokyo in Japan, where he also had the opportunity to give a lecture and lead a workshop at the Hiko Mizuno College of Jewellery in Tokyo, Japan’s most highly regarded jewellery school. Nicolas is the author of the five books in the series on jewellery that has been published by Promopress in several languages and distributed worldwide: NEW RINGS: 500+ designs from around the world, an updated version of which was subsequently published by Thames & Hudson; NEW EARRINGS: 500+ designs from around the world; NEW NECKLACES: 400 designs in contemporary jewellery; NEW BROOCHES: 400+ contemporary jewellery designs; and NEW BRACELETS: 400+ contemporary jewellery designs, a book that showcases 520 bracelets by 200 jewellers who were selected from among 900 artists from across the world whose works were considered for inclusion. Nicolas lives in Barcelona, the city that allowed him to be who he wanted to be and to do what he wanted to do. He has his own studio, where he shares his craft and experiences with other jewellers who also live in or are passing through this wonderful cosmopolitan city.