Marta Alaminos Cacace

The project developed during iAtelier: Parenchyma

It is a project focused on the creation of jewellery pieces and accessories through polyhedral three-dimensional structures printed in 3D together with a specific design packaging according to each piece and material. Marta Alaminos and Chama Navarro shared skills and techniques and improved their ability with digital drawing programs. Parenchyma is the result of combining 3D printing with electro forming processes for copper covering jewellery and CNC router and laser cutting for the packaging.

Check the video of iAtelier workshop here!

Meet the maker

My name is Marta Alaminos and I am based in Málaga, Spain.

When I was 5 years old, I started helping Carmela, a craftswoman who lived near our house with whom I spent hours and hours learning how to make fashion accessories and jewellery by hand and in that moment, I fell in love with crafts. Several years later, we moved and unfortunately, I had no further influence that led me to deepen into this field.

Since my sister’s wedding, I generated an interest in floral preservation and I realized that my passion in life has always been crafts. Although it started with pressed flowers, my idea was always to combine metal and glass. Since then, I have focused on learning the Tiffany technique, flower preservation, epoxy resin and traditional jewellery in a self-taught way to combine all these techniques and promote crafts by giving them a new approach.

What interested you in the iAtelier programme and did it meet with your expectations?

My interest in the program was to start getting to know and develop myself in the field of art and crafts internationally and at the same time, learn other techniques and tools that could ease my creative and production work in the future.

In short, I am very happy with the result since the benefits have exceeded my expectations.

As an emerging artisan, all this was new to me and an opportunity to discover and experience. I consider that I have learned a lot about other artisans who, even working in the same field, have had experiences, and carried out their path in a totally different way within the craft.

How will participating in iAtelier influence your future practice?

It will definitely influence my future since in addition to taking with me everything I have learned that will be useful in my project, it has brought my co-worker Rosa on my way who has become a big support for me in all areas, a person with a lot of experience that helps and advises me and makes me feel less alone during my business learning and that of course, is  a role model within the craft business.

We are going to continue working together in our project “Parenchyma” with new and different collections and designs that will be released on the market as well as in other possible future projects.

Also, thanks to the Parenchyma project, I have experienced new techniques that I can use in the development of my own products and I have learned to have a more entrepreneurial approach during the design and creation with a focus on selling as the main objective.

My 5 top tips that I have learnt on this journey:

1.There are opportunities that happen only once in a lifetime. If you have been lucky enough to get one, make the most of it for you, and for all those who have not been lucky enough to get that chance.

2. All learning takes time, you must learn how to enjoy the journey and be patient during the process.

3. Sometimes you have to modify and discard the initial idea of a project during the process since it not only matters that we like it but also, it has to be profitable and even if things do not go as planned, it does not mean you cannot have a good result.

4. Take the risk of experimenting in fields that you do not yet know, because although the road will be more difficult, it will open up a new world of possibilities.

5. Learn that you do not have to be perfect in all fields, you just have to focus on being better than yesterday within your possibilities and if something you are not able to solve, it is time to ask for help.