Italian/American multidisciplinary artist Mara Colecchia is the creator of Maracole Bijoux, a line of hand-woven ornaments made with fine Japanese seed beads, semi precious stones, and repurposed vintage beads.

Combining a playful narrative with bead-weaving, Maracole is creating delightfully crafted ornaments, one of a kind or limited edition, made available for fashion styling and art performances.

Ethical fashion:

Over the years I developed my unique way to combine bead embroidery and upcycling, by repurposing worn-out leather from used baseballs, silly straws from parties, and lucite beads from used vintage jewelry.

About the technique:

My research as a bead smith is centered on the mastering of a weaving technique called cubic right angle weave, that allows to create sturdy sculptural meshes, based on the methodical repetition of a 12 seed beads unit.

I sculpt my designs one unit at the time, juxtaposing empty and full forms, to keep my work light and dynamic.

The challenge:

Working with minuscule seed beads forces a weaver to be methodical and attentive; this technique is extremely time consuming, and necessitates the creation of a meditative state of mind.

When I begin a new project and start to deal with this peculiar quality of bead-weaving, I find that the practice is also the message: the values I stick with and uphold in my practice are those of labor through intense artisanal skill, the quality of the work, and the enduring nature of a piece of jewelry.

The Narrative:

Coming from children entertainment, my narrative is by definition witty. My vocabulary as an artist includes joyful spheres of every size and material, as well as glossy elements in pastel colors, such as marbled lucite, that confer my pieces the look of toys.

Bio:

Born and raised in Urbino, an art town in mid-northern Italy, I have been exposed to an incredible amount of influential art, mostly from the Renaissance, and I had the chance to experiment with many artistic practices over decades.

After completing my study in drawing animation, I earned a master degree in Game Design from the European Institute of Design in Rome, where I worked in children entertainment for about a decade.

In January 2009 I relocated to Los Angeles, California, where l had many artistic pursuits, being an active member of The Los Angeles Art Association.

In 2019 Maracole Bijoux was born, which has become my main artistic endeavor.

Since 2020 I am teaching workshops at various craft schools in the United States, amongst which Craft in America, in Los Angeles.

Education:

Baltimore Jewelry Center, Baltimore, MA: Breana Ferrara , “Dimensional Beading”, 2020 - Dongyi WU “Explorative Practices for Jewelry”, 2021

Studio Aphorisma, Florence, Italy: Bauhaus and textile design , Fall 2020

Universus Studios. Athens, Greece: Louis Acosta, “Modular Design”, 2023

Collaboration with Art Galleries:

Loewe Gallery, Lewes, DE - Ombre’, Cincinnati, OH - Hannah Gallery, Barcelona, Spain -Mydaybyday, Rome, Italy -Collectiva, Porto, Portugal.

Awards:

Collectiva Meeting 2022 - 3rd Best design

Museums acquisitions:

Museum of Beadwork, Portland, Maine - Ilias Lalaounis Jewelry Museum, Athens, Greece

Press:

FiberArtNow, Oct 2024 - Ventana Magazine, editorial, March 2023 - BMore Art , March 2022 - Findings, January 2022 - L’Officiel, through Joya Barcelona, November 2021 - Zolota Magazine - cover, December 2021 - Malvie Magazine pictorial, September 2021 - Schmuck Mag: Flying Circus Project, March 2021

Art Residencies

Ilias Lalaounis Jewelry Museum, Athens, Greece, 2023 - E-residency Flying Circus, byBietersimperium, Munich, 2020 - Fish Factory, Storvafiord, Iceland, 2017

Trade shows, teaching and exhibits:

2025

Visions Musuem of Textile Arts, San Diego, CA : ArtWear group exhibit (September - December 2025) curated by “FiberArt Now”

Visiting artist The Musuem of Beadwork, Portland, ME: personal exhibit of beaded jewelry and embroidered objects (June-Dec 2025)

1 day Workshops at Caravan Beads (Portland , ME) June 7th : Beaded Ropes

The Smithsonian’s Craft Show, April 24-27

The Palm Beach Craft Show, Feb 13-16

Ilias Lalounis Jewelry Musuem Biennale: Curated collective Exhibit of Contemporary Jewelry Art , May-Sept 2025, Athens, Greece

2024

NYCJW - Earrings Galore by H. Loewe Gallery @ 251 Elizabeth, NYC, November 18-24

Craft in America, 1 dayworkshop - “Beaded Ropes”, Nov 16th.

Academy Musuem Annual Craft Show, Easton, ML, October 25-27

The Earrings Show,CCBC ( @British Columbia Craft Council) May/June - British Columbia, Canada

The Smithsonian Craft Show, May 1/5, Washington DC

Bijoux!, annual jewelry exhibit at the Boca Raton Musuem of art, Boca, FL - March 17/20

Sustainability in Jewelry Making, public speech at the Boca Raton Musuem of Art, in the occasion of “Bijoux!”, March 21st

Bead your Pod Ring with CRAW, 1 day workshop at the Armory Art Center in Palm Beach, FL - March 25Th

2023

NYCJW : “A history of Revolution”, collective exhibit at the General Greek Consulate in NYC, curated by Joanna Lalaounis for Ilias Lalaounis Jewelry Musuem, opening Nov 13th.

“Storytelling”, collective art exhibit at Ombre’ Gallery, Cincinnati, November 18-Jan 20.

“This Jewel is 100RMB”, collective international juried exhibit curated by Vonmo Studios - Beijing, China, October-December

“Contemporania Barcelona”, annual art fair of jewelry and objects patronized by Artesania Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain - September 28-29-30

Residency at the IliasLalaounis Jewelry Museum In Athens, Greece - studio ZEDET.

“Bijoux!”trade show of contemporary jewelry design produced by the Boca Raton Museum of Art, March 21 - 25, Boca Raton, FL

Teacher of beading and jewelry making at the Santa Paula Museum Art, in Santa Paula, CA.

2022

Collectiva Meeting, international exhibit curated by Collectiva Joyaleria de Autor, Porto, Portugal - awarded 3rd best in show in the annual juried exhibit.

Purifying the soul, international exhibit curated by Vonmo Studios - Beijing, China, Oct 2022

Paradox, International Exhibit at the Hungarian Jewellery Week, Budapest, September 2022

Instructor at Baltimore Jewelry Center , April/May 2022 - online workshop “Make your Bangle in CRAW”

“Schmuck on Reel”, online exhibit of video art related to jewelry making. “Obsession” is playing at the site of Weltraum Gallery in Munich (March/April 2022).

2021

Artifactual Remakes, exhibit of contemporary art jewels inspired by historical jewelry from the Walters Museum collection - Baltimore Jewelry Center, Baltimore, MD.

Intimate Relationships - group show organized by Vonmo Studios in Beijing , China - September 2021

Joya Barcelona , international exhibit and award of art jewelry - fromSept 23rd to October 24th, Barcelona, Spain

Fiber Stories , online exhibit and sale of textile arts held by the Boston Society of Arts and Crafts

“The Earrings Show”,CCBC ( @British Columbia Craft Council) May/June - British Columbia, Canada

2020

Selected artist at E-residency Flying Circus, Bietersymperium, Feb/March - final exhibit at Weltraum Gallery, Munich, 7/14 March

FINALIST @ Arte Y Yoja 2020, 11th online juried contest and catalog of contemporary artistic jewelry design.

2019

SELECTED DESIGNER @Artistar Jewels 2019 - international exhibit of contemporary jewelry design in Milan, Palazzo Bovara - October 24 - 27