About

Born in Medellin, Colombia in 1967, and previously graduated as Attorney at Law (1990) with a Master in Business Administration (1998), Virginia Escobar quit her career in 2010, and began to study jewelry after fifteen years of professional experience. She first studied silversmith in Bogota, and then she learned jewelry design and techniques in the same city. In 2017 Virginia moved to Italy to enroll the MFA Jewellery & Body Ornament program at Alchimia Contemporary Jewellery School in Florence, where she finished it in 2019. Her work has been exhibited in Colombia, where she lives, and she has also participated in important international exhibitions since the beginning of her career.

Virginia Escobar trabajando

Work

Jewelry is a human way of expression. It communicates emotions and feelings, and it is related to culture, power, politics, bodies, and identities. I am interested on creating pieces that can be worn on the body and connect with others. My creative process is attached to material experimentation and research. Transforming resources, reusing them and finding new meanings when I make pieces of jewelry, describes the way I work.

Gioielli in Fermento

2015

Las uvas están verdesNecklace
H: 65cm W: 5cmD: 4cm
Las uvas están verdes
Las uvas están verdes Necklace
H: 65cm W: 5cmD: 4cm
Las uvas están verdes

Torre Fornello Award Unconventional Jewellery Competition Selected Artist 2015

Gestación

2014

Brooch
H: 6cm W: 5cmD: 5cm
Brooch
H: 6cm W: 5cmD: cm
Ring
H: 4cm W: 3.5cmD: cm
Ring
H: 4cm W: 3.5cmD: cm
Ring
H: 4cm W: 3cmD: 4cm
Necklace
H: 45cm W: 4cmD: 0.5cm
Necklace
H: 50cm W: 5cmD: 4cm
Necklace
H: 50cm W: 5cmD: 1cm
Necklace
H: 110cm W: 6cmD: 4.5cm

Award Nomination - Premio Lápiz de Acero 2015, Colombia

I new beginning, reinventing oneself… The egg, considered as the universal symbol of life is the first cell, the beginning of everything.

Movibles

2014

Brooch
H: 8cm W: 11cmD: 5cm
Brooch
H: 8cm W: 11cmD: 5cm
Brooch
H: 8cm W: 7cmD: 5cm
Necklace
H: 65cm W: 6cmD: 5cm
Ring
H: 5.5cm W: 6cmD: cm
Ring
H: 5.5cm W: 6cmD: cm
Ring
H: 5.5cm W: 6cmD: cm

Award Nomination - Premio Lápiz de Acero 2014, Colombia.

“The next step in sculpture is motion”, Alexander Calder.  I use silver wire to construct pieces that move and transform differently, following the user´s body shape.

Atrapados con salida

2013

Brooch
H: 7cm W: 1cmD: 1.5cm
Brooch
H: 7cm W: 1cmD: 1.5cm
Brooch
H: 8cm W: 1cmD: 1.5cm
Ring
H: 3cm W: 1cmD: 5cm
Ring
H: 3cm W: 2cmD: 0.5cm
Pendant
H: 15cm W: 1cmD: 1.5cm
Necklace
H: 95cm W: 2cmD: 0.4cm
Necklace
H: 45cm W: 2cmD: 0.4cm

Feeling stressed, tense and frustrated. This body of work represents those moments when we are trapped and stuck as a consequence of our own decisions. Days when we feel despair, trying to find a way out. 

Mutatis Mutandis

2010

Necklace
H: 110cm W: 1.5cmD: 1cm
Necklace
H: 110cm W: 1.5cmD: 1cm
Necklace
H: 110cm W: 1.5cmD: 1cm

Award Nomination - Premio Lápiz de Acero 2010, Colombia

Award Nomination - Premio Traza Artesanal 2010, Colombia

Understanding death as a transformation process, as part of life. 

Unique pieces

RubénBrooch
H: 10cm W: 8.5cmD: 1cm
Rubén
Pendamt
H: 18cm W: 6cmD: 0.5cm
MeBrooch
H: 5cm W: 10cmD: 1cm
Me
Ring
H: 8cm W: 5cmD: cm
Object
H: 6cm W: 7cmD: 4cm
Brooch
H: 10cm W: 2.3cmD: 1.5cm
Pendant
H: 95cm W: 5cmD: 7cm
Pendant
H: 95cm W: 7cmD: 9cm
Bracelet
H: 7cm W: cmD: cm

These pieces come from experimental processes and special projects and exhibitions.

Exhibitions

Upcoming

WE HUMAN Exhibition
13-15 March, 2025
Munich Jewelry Week
Neureuther- Strasser 26
Munich 80798, Germany


2024

Atelier Ravary - 18 Recent Marzee Graduate Prize
Winners. GALERIE MARZEE,
Nijmegen, The Netherlands

IV Bienal Latinoamericana de Joyería
Contemporánea - CODEVENIR
Selection Jury Member - Guest Exhibitor
Santiago de Chile, Chile

Cluster Jewellery - Contemporary Fair
Protein Studios
London - UK

2023

Parcours Bijoux, 2023
Paris, France:

•Identité.s, Le Bijou Manifeste, GALERIE MÉMOIRE DE L’AVENIR.

•While I keep Myself Distant, AMIRA SLIMAN GALERIE.

2022

El río grande de la Magdalena, CASA DE LA LEONA, El Retiro, Colombia.

Magdalena Rio Manifiesto, MORADAROSADA, Honda, Colombia.

2021

Los Matices del Asombro, LA RAMBLA Reunión de Artistas, Medellín, Colombia.

•III Bienal Latino Americana de Joyería Contemporánea, Colombia, pasado, presente y futuro - VIRTUAL EXHIBITION, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

2020

Marzee International Graduate Exhibition, GALERIE MARZEE, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

•ImPERFECT Graduate Solo Exhibition, LE MURATE ART DISTRICT, Florence, Italy.

2019

Body Control Exhibition, ARNHEM MUSEUM, Arnhem, The Netherlands.

•Present, ALCHIMIA EXHIBITION, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

2018

Athens Jewelry Week, BENAKI MUSEUM, Atenas, Grecia.

2017

Parcours Bijoux
Paris, France:

•El Dorado Siglo XXI, Collective Exhibition, TERRES d’ ALIGRE.

•Abrigo de piel, Solo Exhibition, GALERIE WENGE.

2015

Gioielli in Fermento, LA VIGNA DELLE ARTI, Piacenza, Italia.

•Beijing International Jewelry Art Exhibition, Beijing, China.

•De la Mano, GALERÍA NARANJO VELILLA, Medellín, Colombia.

2014

Loot – MAD About Jewelry, MUSEUM OF ARTS AND DESIGN.
New York, USA.

2013

Joya Contemporary Jewellery Fair, FOMENT DE LES ARTS I EL DISSENY,
Barcelona, Spain.

2011

Joyería en la Galería, GALERÍA NARANJO VELILLA.
Medellín, Colombia.

2010

BID2010 - Bienal Iberoamericana de Diseño, MATADERO
Madrid, Spain.

Contact

Virginia Escobar
For information and inquires please contact virginiaescobarg@gmail.com