Nicolas Estrada

Nicolás Estrada discovered the path of his art in Barcelona, a city he arrived in for reasons unrelated to jewelry, yet where he found the language that would define his creative life. It was at the Llotja and Massana schools that he first encountered the universe of jewelry, a discipline in which he recognized a field of infinite expressive possibilities and a means to explore sensitivity, material and form.

A constant researcher of his craft, his curiosity and rigor have led him to train in diverse techniques and traditions, from gemology, stone setting and chasing, to obtaining a Master of Fine Arts in gemstone carving and jewelry design at the University of Trier in Germany. His academic and artistic trajectory has unfolded through an international journey that has shaped a broad, precise and deeply poetic vision of the jewel as an object.

Nicolás Estrada’s work addresses themes related to the human condition and the sensitive experience of the viewer. For him, each piece of jewelry carries a symbolic and emotional value that transcends ornament, establishing an intimate dialogue between the object and the beholder. His practice is grounded in an aesthetic reflection in which matter, form and meaning converge in works of strong conceptual and expressive presence.

In 2018 he was invited to give lectures and workshops at universities and art institutions in the United Kingdom, Germany and the United States, including Birmingham City University, the School of Jewelry in Birmingham, the SNAG Annual Conference in Portland, and the Akademie für Gestaltung und Design in Munich, as well as the Pakistan Institute of Fashion and Design.

In 2019 he represented Colombia as a guest artist at the international World Art Tokyo fair, where he also gave a lecture and a workshop at the Hiko Mizuno College of Jewelry, the most prestigious jewelry school in Japan. In 2022 he received the Artisan Award from the Jewelry Guild of Catalonia in recognition of his contribution to the field.

He is the author of six internationally published books by Hoaki Books, several of which were later reissued by Thames & Hudson, including Rings, Earrings, Necklaces, Brooches, Bracelets and New Earrings. He is currently working on the seventh title of this collection.

After more than two decades living in Barcelona, a city that was fundamental to his personal and artistic formation, Nicolás Estrada returned to Colombia, where he now runs his own studio and continues to develop a practice that understands jewelry as a territory of thought, sensitivity and creation.