My goal for now is to keep creating by exploring further possibilities of working with paper
I'm a paper jewelry designer from São Paulo, Brazil and I currently live in Leipzig, Germany.
My journey to Origami jewelry wasn’t that straightforward, as pretty much everything else in my life. I first studied Public Relations and almost by accident, I turned out to be working in the TV and Film industry for almost ten years. I mostly worked in documentaries and reality-TV shows as a Line Producer and later, as an Assistant Director.
I lived for two years in London to study Documentary and when I moved to Lisbon, finding a job wasn’t that easy. Although I was terrified, I couldn’t lay still and at some point, I decided this was the time to risk and embrace that inner creative desire I always had! I allowed myself to become more curious about manual work and decided to try learning pottery. Meanwhile, I somehow started watching Origami online tutorials, gradually folding different models, learning new diagrams, reading books after books and when I realised, it was pretty clear I was obsessed about it. And during this period of discovery, I also worked as a volunteer in a public school, which funny enough, it was where I gave my first Origami workshop.
It all happened in a very organic way and not long after that, I received my first order: an Origami flower bouquet for a friend’s wedding. She later asked if I could also make her a brooch and a pair of earrings. And right there is when my business actually was born.
From the very start, it was clear that if I would have an Origami jewelry business, I’d challenge myself to create unconventional designs and to break the stigma of paper being such a fragile material. I had to prove that, if finely crafted, Origami paper jewelry could not only be appealing, but also durable.
It was only in 2016, that I felt it was time to dedicate myself full-time, and it’s been almost six years since. Today you can find my jewelry online and in different museum shops throughout Europe, such as the British Museum in London or the Orient Museum in Lisbon.
During this whole process, I must admit, I never stopped investigating paper. I attended several workshops in Japan, UK and Germany. I learned how to work with paper pulp, which is a mixture of paper fiber and water, it feels almost like clay. It was very liberating for me to switch to a more organic approach and with my paper pulp jewelry I was able to apply to different art competitions in Italy, Japan and Australia. My goal for now is to keep creating by exploring further possibilities of working with paper.
