R I T A C A R R E G A

Lisbon, 1989. My name is my identity.

I majored in design at IADE, in 2011. In 2009 and 2010, I spent a season in Milan, through the Erasmus student exchange program.

Coming back to Portugal, I firmly decided to start studying jewelry. Soon, I enrolled into Ar.Co, and it didn’t take long until I developed an absolute fascination by the world of both traditional and contemporary jewelry.

I’ve always been fascinated by the universe of this art form, the attention to detail it requires from its professionals. As an activity, the apparent simplicity of giving form to raw materials; following the thought, the conceptualization that precedes the making of these objects – it is a challenge that fills me with purpose. Nobody was able to stop me until I was fully dedicated, giving this craft all my heart and time.

Currently, I own a studio at MITÓ creative site, a co-work center in Arroios, Lisbon; where I create my pieces and meet with my clients. I keep developing my technical skills through the collaboration with my tutor, Master José Maria Bulhão; at his workshop in Almada.

I have been taking part in a number of shows and exhibitions, while also focusing on my commission work and thematic collections.

My hands are my mind at work. Words are not that easy for me, but I want my work to embody my vision of what the art of jewelry is, in our day and age.

 
 
 

C O L L E C T I O N S

My collections emerge from ideas, studies, researches and various inspirations that lead into a body of work with a set of pieces, united by a single theme or subject. This body of work is conceived while having in mind the greatest purpose of jewelry itself – the harmonization of the piece with the “organic object” that is the human body.

The places I visit, whether known spaces that are already a part of me or remote geographies of our planet; are my biggest source of inspiration.

I am always profoundly fascinated by Culture, in its broader sense. The ways in which human societies have, through the ages, produced their interpretations of nature, grounding them on the daily activities or geographic context of a certain civilization. After all, the genesis of all art forms – associating a profound meaning to an inanimate object  , generating emotion and wonder. That is the mistery I explore in my work, substantiated in my collections.

 
 
 

C U S T O M

There are not many things in life that give me such a pleasure as seeing my clients’ expressions when they receive the piece they ordered from me. The sheer challenge of conjugating my creative vision with the clients’ desire is the core of my work. The process of working with perfection as a target can sometimes be frustrating; but the feeling of hitting the jackpot is immensely fulfilling. I know, after the work is done, that my clients leave the workshop with a product that symbolizes the merging of my imagination, hard work and total dedication; with what they idealized as the perfect piece.

In my customized work I create objects for cerimonies and weddings, giving a new life to a given piece (repairing or modifying it) and implementing ideas and concepts suggested by my clients. I don’t want to create any boundaries for my creations in this sense – if you have an idea or a concept for a certain piece, nothing like a brainstorming to turn that into a tangible project and, finally, into your dream ornament… or if you, for example, inherited a Jewel; and you want to give it a second life, bring it together with your vision of what you want it to become!

My customized work involves, above all, pieces for weddings and cerimonies (wedding or engagement rings, earrings and hair pieces, boutonniéres), religious medals or plaques; but also the materialization of a specific wish – whether it be a piece to mark a special occasion or simply a truly unique gift for someone special.

 
 
 

P R O J E C T S

My personal projects are the “spiritual place” where I can be bolder, stripping my work from all conventions and limitations in a pursuit for a certain concept or artistic vision. While denying the primacy of noble metals as raw materials, I immediately obtain the unlimited creative freedom that I seek for this body of work. Through these unrestrained experiments I’m able to further develop my skills and creativity; opening a path for my more consolidated work present in my collections. It’s as if it was my own personal lab, where I experiment and have fun, sometimes discovering powerful ideas that can be further consubstantiated.

My work arises through the subjective materializations of invented realities; visual modifications of what amazes me in the natural world or just random ideas that come to mind, urging to become “alive”. In most cases, this work is the reflection of inspirations and epiphanies that, generally happening after a period of traveling; have me returning to my workshop with a creative urge that is, in its essence, the source and reason why I fully dedicated myself to this artform.