Since I can remember I have loved drawing, sculpture, embroidery or sewing. I studied art in a professional capacity but people are sometimes surprised to learn that this did not include jewelry making or silversmithing.

Yet, I have always been drawn to jewelry as a form of expression and, given that I have stayed involved in several fields of creativity at once, the area of collage came naturally to me. “Matchmaking” materials is what I love to do: testing contrasts, colors and textures and how they interact together.

Combining beads and soft tassels with jagged surfaces; matte textures with shiny metals. For me, the possibilities are boundless and anything can trigger creative impulse.

At the very beginning, jewelry was simply a means of earning a living. Back in the 1980s when I first started, most jewelry tended to be made of precious metals such as gold and silver as well as modeling clays, which was popular at the time. Being an outsider, I actually had an advantage. My designs were different. Unexpected. They incorporated materials that were unconventional: metals with fabrics, beads, plaster, wood and different findings.

I was actually selling miniature artifacts. The initial collections had mosaic-like qualities to ...