2020 marks two years since the inception of Caracú, a collective of South American jewelers and artists. We consider contemporary jewelry as a complete artistic expression which enables us to create functional pieces, art objects, and installations. The private creation and collaborative result of our work allows us to continually consider our expression, our creative and technical processes, and the meaning of these as both individuals and individuals in a community. What began as the casual result inspired by a workshop, De lo Plástico a lo Visual, taught by Jorge Manilla, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, has become a self-managed group in which each voice is heard in an ongoing, collaborative conversation.

Reflected in the search for relevant materials and processes are internal explorations regarding our understanding and experience of existence and identity. From analyses of personal, natural, historical, social, political and discursive patterns to the raw distillation of form in pursuit of an essence of culture or meaning of value, our pieces collectively echo the heterogeneous multiplicity that is life in South America by voicing the unheard, showing the unseen, and surviving through solidarity.