Juan Castro
Juan Castro’s work is the result of the attraction and curiosity toward adornments that he has carried with him since childhood. His jewellery is created by a juxtaposition of religious adornments, old Mediterranean cultures and civilisations, history, antique treasures, mythology, an anthropologist’s definition of beauty, the Phi number, volcanic landscapes, movement, balance and the fragile line between beauty and destruction. The mixture of all of this, combined with the use of traditional techniques, makes each piece unique.
Juan is a social and cultural anthropologist, who studied at the University of Seville, Spain. Juan moved to Melbourne in 2011 and completed an Advanced Diploma of Jewellery and Object Design at Melbourne Polytechnic in 2016. The connection between anthropology and contemporary jewellery design arose from his final thesis, which focused on adornments and body modification through different cultures and the way in which it develops in contemporary society. His body of work is based on traditional techniques and the inspiration of antique jewellery, all seen from a contemporary point of view.
