Paola Vilas Creates Modernist, Wearable Sculptures
- Name
- Paola Vilas
- Images
- Paola Vilas
- Words
- Steph Wade
Brazilian jewelry designer Paola Vilas creates jewelry akin to modernist art sculptures, inspired by notable members of the art world including Picasso, Guggenheim, and Matisse.
The Rio de Janeiro-based artist chooses jewelry to express her vision on the female form. Working with silver and gold plating, the designer’s production is all sourced locally from her hometown. Each inventive piece references an artist Vilas is inspired by. The ‘Peggy’ earrings are an ode to famed American art collector Peggy Guggenheim. The ‘Pablo’ pendant is a sterling silver piece with 18-karat gold plating, with a Picasso-like design and varying colored stones. Her ‘Henri’ earrings reference Henri Matisse’s recognizable face drawings, and various other brooches, pendants, and earrings cleverly invoke the likes of Jean Cocteau and Paloma Picasso. Rather than succumb to an overwhelmed aesthetic, her pieces retain a paired-back visage that is part Surrealism, part subversion.
All images © Paola Vilas
