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Abner Salustiano

"I have trained in the realm of fine arts. I explore silver and stones to create jewelry with unique characteristics. I began my work with Marcio Mattar, a sculptor and jeweler, who along with Burle Marx, Pedro Correa de Araujo, and other artists became involved with the production of artistic jewelry in the 60's.

"I think that the value of jewelry is found much more in the aesthetic pleasure evoked by its form rather than the material used. This is the ideological position of a group of jewelry artists I helped found in 1997 that renewed the artistic production of Brazilian jewelry. The creativity of the artist and the lines of the piece are fundamental in our work proposal.

"Today I develop artistic work that is marketable, and thus is available to a greater number of people. At the beginning, my showcases were art galleries. I participated in many important exhibitions in the museums of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, but I think the most significant was in 1988, at the Modern Art Museum in Sao Paulo, whose theme was 'The Afro-Brazilian Hand.' I am the only African descendant that is established presently in the Brazilian jewelry market. I am a member of the jewelers' association of Rio de Janeiro, where I used to be the director of artisanal jewelry. I teach jewelry techniques and perform industry assessments.

"My experience with the Internet is restricted to the page for my jewelry courses. Novica is a cool idea that allows the artist to experiment with the reactions of a large and diversified market. It allows for exclusive and distinguished pieces to be supplied to many more people, and in this sense it is a rare experience for me and my mulher, Silvana, who is my partner and associate."