José

Jose, 37 years old, has been making his unique, bold jewellery for 16 years. It was, for him, a way out of drug-induced turmoil and heartache. Jose was an orphan at age five, and began selling milk in the street, and working in cloth factories – pretending to be older than he was. He got himself organised at age 15 and set up home with his girlfriend, then 13. They had two children, but after 12 years of marriage Jose's wife left him to go the US with her parents and Jose's two children.

Jose fell into despair. He offered himself as a drug mule so as to afford the liquor and drugs that acted as anaesthetic. Jose enjoyed working with wood as a boy, and as a way of regathering himself, he lent the skills he had learnt to many of Colombia's beautiful seeds. His favourite seed is tagua, also known as vegetable ivory. Tagua, which comes from a palm in the Amazon, resembles ivory so closely that it is exported to China where it is carved into dragons, dogs and monkeys, in the same way as ivory has been carved through the centuries. Jose uses tagua in its natural colour (ivory with grains of brown and black), and also in other more vibrant colours, achieved by dying the seed with flowers.

He currently lives in Medellin.