Articles

Mexico

07/24/2023

Atelier Lazard

Generating and Promoting Contemporary Jewelry in Mexico City and Beyond

By Art Jewelry Forum

We asked the maker Lorena Lazard to come on AJF Live in April 2023 because we wanted to learn more about the art jewelry scene taking place in Mexico. Lazard invited three other Mexican jewelry artists—two of whom attend her school—to join her. The program (which we recorded; you can watch here) fit into our goal of making sure that the field is open and all voices are heard. The work was so strong we thought you would enjoy seeing more from a larger group of Lazard’s students.

Click on the photos to find out what they show.

Lorena Lazard

Atelier Lazard’s interior

Atelier Lazard’s interior

Atelier Lazard’s entrance

Daniela Malev workshop

La Frontera MAD opening

Coyoacán es una Joya exhibition opening

Mayte Amezcua explains that she’s “a graphic designer who, after many years, decided to work in art (encaustic, oil, and acrylic paint) and jewelry about 15 years ago. I also have been a collector of things and materials that catch my eye and surprise me. So when I sit down to work I discover that those drawers full of used objects, found materials stored for so long, have a reason to be. I give them a new significance with my hands, creating something like golems of my own that reflect either my Mexican roots or themes that are related to my profession as a designer, such as typography, color, and painting. Those are the jewels for me, those found objects that I try to hold and assemble sometimes as a collage, with different jewelry techniques giving them a different meaning. I want to convey and give life to objects and redefine their essence in a brooch, a necklace, or an artwork.” | Mayte Amezcua, selfie

"’Fossils of the future’ describes items that, like shells from the sea that have come and gone for hundreds of years, one will find someday on the sand,” says Amezcua. | Mayte Amezcua, Ying Yang, 2016, brooch, computer keys, sterling silver, copper, 2 x 1 ⅝ x ⅜ inches (50 x 40 x 10 mm), photo courtesy of the artist

“Objects made from old wood and computer keys will be transformed into fossils of the future,” she continues, “because, over time, these everyday pieces will become relics. Someone will remember that in the remote 2016 they were used in something called a ‘keyboard.’ They will be fossils of the past.” | Mayte Amezcua, Control, 2016, ring, computer keys, sterling silver, copper, (34 x 36 x 28 mm), photo courtesy of the artist

“Someone will remember that in the remote 2016 they were used in something called a ‘keyboard.’ They will be fossils of the past.” | Mayte Amezcua, Intro, 2016, brooch, computer keys, sterling silver, copper, 2 x 2 ½ x 1 ⅜ inches (50 x 63 x 35 mm), photo courtesy of the artist

The United States-Mexico border connects in many ways those who live there and intertwines two very different cultures which today have merged in a significant way, forming a living amalgam that nourishes and enriches both countries,” says Amezcua. | Mayte Amezcua, A Part of the Other, necklace/collar, 2023, copper, enamel, sterling silver, 17 x 3 ¾ x 1 ⅜ inches (430 x 95 x 35 mm), photo courtesy of the artist

“We are part of the other,” continues Amezcua, “impossible to separate. So, no matter how many walls are built, a border will not be able to divide the human essence that unites and defines us as human beings. The day governments understand this, borders will cease to exist as a control tool.” | Mayte Amezcua, Intertwined, 2023, necklace/collar, copper, enamel, sterling silver, 17 ¼ x 2 ½ x 1 ¾ inches (440 x 65 x 45 mm), photo courtesy of the artist

“One of the attractions of Coyoacán,” says Amezcua, “is its colonial and baroque churches that remind us of the arrival of Hernán Cortés, when the Spaniards tried to put an end to the spiritual world of the indigenous people through evangelization. The syncretism that generated defines us today as Mexicans. I think of the pre-Hispanic temples and the Novo-Hispanic art with the churches of different periods that we can visit today in Coyoacán. This brooch has details of the Church of Panzacola on the front, and, on the back, a tribute to the hidden ancestral world, with pre-Hispanic motifs that evoke what so many colonial constructions tried to cover.” | Mayte Amezcua, Sinchretism: San Antonio Panzacola Church, 2022, brooch, sterling silver, wood, brass, image transfer, 3 ½ x 4 ⅜ x ¾ inches (90 x 110 x 20 mm), photo courtesy of the artist

Raquel Bessudo is a contemporary jeweler who works and lives in Mexico City. Her backgrounds include a BA (HONS) in fine arts from Central Saint Martins College and a postgraduate in Ephemeral Architecture from UPC Barcelona. Her introduction to metalsmithing was at Sterling Quest School. Shortly after, she joined Atelier Lazard, which she is still part of. She has been working in the jewelry field for over 20 years. Her work was selected for Schmuck 2020, and she has been part of exhibitions in Mexico, the US, South America, Australia, and Europe. Her pieces have a strong link to textiles and, more recently, have experimented with painting and mixed media. Her work's development strongly connects to the conceptual development of ideas. In the last couple of years, she has joined Garland Magazine’s editorial team where she has contributed to articles that share Mexican crafts and culture. | Raquel Bessudo, photo: Bertha Herrera

“Through my work, I explore the quotidian, my everyday relationship with what surrounds me—little and intimate happenings or places that inspire me and become an intrinsic part of my work,” says Bessudo. “How does the experience of a place make me feel? What is in that instant that lights the spark of inspiration in me? What provokes the longing for that instant thing? Wanting to answer those questions is what ignites in me the need to create. Inspired by places or moments as the starting point for developing, I allude to memories, whether a blurry silhouette or a reference to a site. But ideas form in the present; I am conscious that even though I want to hold on to those memories, they gradually become more distant as the piece tells its own story.” | Raquel Bessudo, From What I Remember III, 2019, mixed media on fabric, fabricated, textile, gesso, watercolor polyester thread, freshwater pearl, stainless steel, copper, powder coating, 2 ⅜ x 2 ⅝ x 1⅛ inches (60 x 66 x 30 mm), photo: © Felipe Flores

Raquel Bessudo, Still I

Raquel Bessudo, Windows (Paris) I

Raquel Bessudo, Remember Those Colors (Mangrove)

Raquel Bessudo, Colors and Facades (Coyoacan) I

Raquel Bessudo, Inner Landscapes I

Elvira Bessudo

Elvira Bessudo, La Frontera

Elvira Bessudo, What Grows in My Garden

Elvira Bessudo, What Grows in My Garden

Work by Elvira Bessudo

Work by Elvira Bessudo

Work by Elvira Bessudo

Nasla Santillán Lara

Nasla Santillán Lara, Transformation Brooch

Nasla Santillán Lara, Transformation Brooch

Nasla Santillán Lara, Transformation Brooch

Nasla Santillán Lara, Path Necklace

Nasla Santillán Lara, Path Necklace

Nasla Santillán Lara, Path Necklace

Sandra Bostock

Sandra Bostock, Brooch: Contraste III

Sandra Bostock, Pendant: Bloque

Sandra Bostock, Brooch: Paseos Urbanos

Sandra Bostock, Necklace: Paseos Urbanos

Sandra Bostock, Brooch: Urban Nature II

Sandra Bostock, Brooch: Paseos Urbanos

Jackie Roffe

Jackie Roffe, El Luchador 1

Jackie Roffe, Santitos

ackie Roffe, Santitos

Martacarmela Sotelo

Martacarmela Sotelo, Container in Red

Martacarmela Sotelo, Container in Colors

Martacarmela Sotelo, Container in Pink

Martacarmela Sotelo, Reconstruction in Yellow

Martacarmela Sotelo, Reconstruction in Red

Martacarmela Sotelo, Oda a Mis Manos (Ode to My Hands)

“I understand jewelry as a medium capable of expressing the bond between me, the materials I use, and the people who wear my creations,” says Dora Corona. “I strive to use recycled and/or recovered materials to soften jewelry pieces. I try to get both new and used materials, such as bones, glass, seashells, stones, teeth, paper, fabrics, ropes, crystals, pearls, beads, and other recycled materials. This helps me reduce the environmental impact of the materials used. I am committed to finding creative ways to make use of existing materials to create unique and innovative jewelry pieces.” | Dora Corona, photo: Daniela Winer

Dora Corona, I Miss You Mom Reliquary

Dora Corona, Judgment Reliquary

Dora Corona, Glass Ring II

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