About

I BECAME A JEWELER
BECAUSE EACH JEWEL
IS A SMALL PIECE OF ETERNITY.

The body is the startin point of Kika Alvarenga's designs.

Originally working in fashion, Kika immersed herself in the body and how it moves, fascinated by the fuidity of movement. Trained early as a visual artist, the body has always been her focus. Studying the body through drawings, sculputres, and photographs, she research proportions, textures, light and shadow in movement.

Eventually, she began to incorporate her vison into more ancient, eternal materials. Stones. Silver. Gold. Her jewerlry emerged from a study of the body, sow jewelry sits on the wearer's hands, ears, or neck, and how the body moeve with it.

After studying art in Lndn, Kika returned to Brazil, and began to incorporate the local culture into her pieces.

The traditional feathered feaddresses called the cocar are the base of her Cocar Collections, which mimic the overlay of features translated into stones. In these pieces, stones f various tones are carefully arranged to create a greadient effect that is an natural feature of feathers.

Other inspiration include tucum and buriti ropeweaving, an ancient technique used to create hammocks and jwewlry with palm fibers. Her Gráfico collection translates the weaving into the eternal medium of gold, with the buriti ant tucum woven gold capable of embracing stnes for an eternity.

The Garimpo collection was inspired by a well known local tradition known as "garimpo", in which local miners scour river beds for diamonds and mineral fragments. These pieces feature organic, nonlinear placement of rough diamonds that harken to this tradition, but with a modern twist.

In her work, even the stones carry the weight of time and tradition; Kika purposely uses rough cuts that mimic the natural crystal structure of the stone. Intervetion is minimal; Kika only enhances the beauty of the natural form with the smallest of interference. The essence of her designs is to emphasize shat is precious in each element. It is in the natural imperfection or stone that each piece finds its unique identity. The rough contains the delicate. Wwight carries possibilities of lightness. The stone says where and how it wants to become a jewel, and themetal receives it. apt to hold it for an eternity.