The Courier-Journal
June 9, 2007
Section: Scene
Edition: metro
Page: 4S
Artist uses nature's gifts
Tamara Ikenberg tikenberg@courier-journal.com The Courier-Journal
Nicaraguan-born jeweler is carving
a reputation for himself in Louisville
By Tamara Ikenberg
tikenberg@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
The face carved into the shiny black coyol palm seed has a wise and
playful Buddha-like smile. Hanging from a black cotton cord, the charm
is smooth and rounded, with a lightness and life to it.
The engaging grin of its creator, Nicaraguan-born jeweler Marlon Obando Solano, is similarly warm and welcoming.
The artist, musician and activist, 31, moved from Nicaragua to
Louisville two years ago, and his soulful, sensual pieces have caught
the attention of local jewelry lovers. Nancy Peterson, owner of
Edenside Gallery on Bardstown Road, which carries Solano's pieces, has one of his face necklaces.
"I just love the feel of it. You can feel the face of it with your
fingers while you're wearing it. The handwork that he does on each
piece makes them special in this day of mass-produced work. I just like
the edginess of it," she says. "He just puts a lot of himself into it.
Most people are working with metals and stones, and he's come up with
nuts and seeds from nature and really made it beautiful."
Solano has made several versions of the face necklace, but no two are exactly alike. "Each piece is one of a kind," he says.|
The artist lives with his Louisvillian wife, Amy Shelton, a freelance
translator, and works in an open garage studio in his backyard. Hanging
on the wall behind his work table are all kinds of pliers, chisels and
saws with which he cuts open the seeds, many of which have rough
exteriors that give no hint to the unique textures and shapes of the
treasures inside.
On and around the
table sit jars and plastic boxes full of seeds,
mostly in earthy brown and black tones, with some brilliant orange
mixed in as well. The gorgeous music of Spanish recording artist Manu
Chao fills the space, and Solano is wearing a T-shirt featuring one of
his role models, Victor Jara , a Chilean folk singer and activist.
Solano spends about four hours a day in his studio fashioning
his pieces, made from all-natural materials, and featuring ingenious
details.
Most of his necklaces don't even have clasps. He's discovered a way to
adjust the length by pulling the strands through small seeds. He finds
practically all of the seeds on his yearly trips to visit his family in
Nicaragua.
The process for perfecting each piece is similar. After selecting the
perfect seed, he cleans it, sands it down, carves and shapes it, then
brushes it with sesame oil to add a glossy sheen and protect the
material. No plastics, dyes or varnishes play into his craft.
On a recent Friday, Solano
sliced a thick almendro nut with a handsaw, then started sanding it.
"This the hardest part," he said, the strain showing on his face as he
strived to achieve the perfect shape. "I have to make sure everything
is balanced."
Lately, he's been experimenting with silver inlays, and several of his
pieces feature elegant silver strands that snake through the seeds. In
his designs, there is also a recurring motif of the sun, moon and
primitive male and female symbols.
Among his most oft-used seeds and ingredients are the tiny, orange
coralillo — perfect for delicate, but eye-catching earrings; the
star-shaped guasimo; the smooth, speckled rubeliana; and sleek, shiny
resins. His jewelry ranges in price from $30 to $80.
"They're just very relaxed pieces, which is today's trend," says David
McGuire, director of gallery sales at the Kentucky Museum of Art and
Craft, which sells Solano's
work. "I could see them with jeans; I could see them dressed up with
linen. They're very light and very versatile, great for summer."
Solano's fans get attached to his work.
"I really think of Marlon's jewelry as wearable sculpture. I love that Marlon
sees the beauty in pieces of seed and stone and wood — natural
materials. He brings them together to create pieces graceful in their
simplicity," says local social activist Carla Wallace. "I had one piece
I really wore just about every day until I lost it while traveling in
Cuba this past January. Because I loved it so much, I had to tell
myself that perhaps the necklace was ready to move on. I was so excited
when I found another of his pieces that reminds me of my first. It's
now the necklace I wear more often than anything else I own."
All about nature
Solano's connection to nature can be traced to his childhood on
a small farm in the central Nicaraguan town of San Lorenzo. His mom,
dad and 11 brothers and sisters grew corn, beans and grains and tended
to livestock. The area was rich in natural materials, and Solano would gather them to create sculptures and other artwork.
"Nature is one of the most important things in my life, because it has changed the way that I think about everything," Solano says.
While in college at the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua, he
channeled his love of nature and country into socially conscious
activities. Nicaragua is one of the poorest counties in Latin America,
with tons of pollution, especially in the capital of Managua, where the
university is located. He joined activist groups, taking walking and
bus excursions through Latin America, educating the natives about
ecology and how to raise themselves from poverty.
At the same time, he was majoring in archaeology and seriously starting
to make jewelry. He took advantage of digs throughout Central and South
America to collect new materials for his work. At the university, Solano
informally learned about the art and business of jewelry making from
the mochileros , traveling jewelry vendors who would set up temporary
shop on campus.
In 2001, his life changed when he met his wife-to-be, Amy Shelton, in
El Salvador at a memorial for Monseñor Romero , a Salvadoran archbishop
and champion of human rights, who was assassinated in 1980. The
Louisville native was fluent in Spanish and was working for Witness for
Peace, an organization that educates people about the effects of U.S.
policy in Latin America.
Shelton recalls what attracted her to her future husband. "He's got a really magnetic personality. He's got a great smile; he's
very friendly," she says. "The first time we had the opportunity to
talk, we talked for hours." Shelton was stationed in Nicaragua, and
when they both returned, their relationship started to bloom.
"He gave me a necklace the week we started dating. It's this little
face," she says. "It's actually this really funny, very whimsical
necklace, and I loved it."
The two got married in Nicaragua and decided to relocate permanently to Louisville, despite Solano's misgivings.
"It was hard for me , because my first thought was, I never will go to live in the United States, I need to help my people."
Once he arrived, "it was a shock for me, because of the language," he says.
But it was soon evident he had a big future in Louisville. Just a few
days after his arrival, the annual Cherokee Triangle Art Fair was held.
Shelton had already arranged for him to have a booth, and Solano ended up winning first prize for his unusual work.
He learned to love the city. "I love the culture. The city had a lot of
art, a lot of music; it was not big. ... Managua's a big city, a crazy
city," he says. "And Louisville has the river. I love the water. I come
from the countryside, and I used to go to the river and fish. I was
like, OK, this is the perfect place."
SOLANO'S SKILLS
Marlon Obando Solano's jewelry is at Edenside
Gallery, 1422 Bardstown Road, and the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft,
715 W. Main St. See more photos of his creations at
www.courier-journal.com/features.
See more of Solano's work at www.marlonobandosolano.com
Solano is also a talented musician and has a local band named Appalatin. Check it out at www.myspace.com/appalatin
He is also active in the Latin social justice and fair trade organization Esperanza en Accion: www.esperanzaenaccion.org