The magic of Salento is the leitmotif of the collections of jewelry artist Maria Patrizia Marra. A land that represents the heel of the Italian boot, lapped by two seas, rich in history and culture. The sea of this sun-kissed region, its breathtaking landscapes, its flora, the creatures of the abyss are some of the recurring themes in Maria Patrizia’s poetry. After years dedicated to the profession of a tax lawyer, it struck the spark: the call of her native land and her passion for design led her to pursue and realize her dream. It all started as a game with the creation of a bronze bracelet and then a ring, and so, creation after creation, her brand of artistic handmade jewelry was born.
His collections are a bridge between past and present: between the scents, colours, visions of the Salento landscape and the metropolitan life of the Capital. One of her collections is directly inspired by coral, an increasingly rare organism in the Mediterranean and therefore extremely precious.
Coral has always been considered a kind of amulet, bearer of good omens thanks to its shape, colour, and mysterious ability to harden in contact with air. Used since ancient times to make jewelry or as an ornament, it was one of the elements that decorated women’s jewellery in the classical world. The Corallo line is made of bronze and respects the needs of safeguarding and protecting the environment.
The sea inspires the two collections, Cavalluccio Marino and Onda. The ancient Greeks and Romans believed that the seahorse was an attribute of the sea god Poseidon/Neptune and, as such, considered it a symbol of strength and power. In Greek, they are called Hippocampi from Hippos (horse) and kampos (sea monster).
The sea transports us far away with its constant and always different waves, beating out rhythms that may remind us of musical times: slow, piano, adagio, mosso, allegro, vivacissimo. The waves dance, caressing the shores of the sea sometimes lightly, sometimes stormily. No law or rule governs the movement of the sea, like the Onda line, which is inspired by freedom and the absence of regulations.
From the water element, we pass to the earth: here too, everything is poetry. We can almost feel the smells and scents of the fields and the fertile soil of Salento. Slave bracelets combined with bronze earrings and rings are the result of a search for roots. This type of jewellery was recurrent in Antiquity: the bracelet represented a sign of belonging to the Dominus, lord of the house. It is a sensual line, very wearable and very up-to-date.
The slave in a reversed relationship can become, in turn, the queen of the game and express freedom and independence like a horse galloping towards the future. The Horse line is imagined: a tribute to the last wild horses on the planet that is still present in Mongolia and is disappearing.
At the end of this extraordinary journey into the world of Maria Patrizia Marra, I report her story of how her passion for jewellery was born: “It’s a passion that began a long time ago and went back to when, as a child, after leaving school, my mother took me to the home of one of her sisters who had a small tailoring workshop. I was enchanted when I saw her drawing and giving life to her creations, and, for fun, we drew and cut out what was my little masterpieces. Many years have passed, and life has taken me away from my home in Salento, but everything has remained in memory; nothing has been erased. In a moment of pause in my work, which is very distant from my passion, I found myself drawing figures that took me back to the past. Jewellery designs that speak of the sea, fragrances, and life, with starfish, prickly pears, seahorses, and corals, all inspired by Nature and my Salento”.
I thought it would be nice to share them, and it was a game to make the first jewel and then the second and then, Maria Patrizia Marra – Jewels”.
Enjoy even more @ Maria Patrizia Marra Gioielli
Article edit by Laura Astrologo Porché
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