Emiliano Céliz

silversmith

Emiliano Céliz

Remarkable silversmith, restless spirit ... Emiliano Céliz brings us the spirit of the mountains, the rains, the waterfalls, the snow and the wind of Patagonia in his vases.

Emiliano was born in Cordoba and started young in the secrets of traditional silversmithing, with a production that reached a thousand pieces of all historical models and through the various techniques of the trade. But, little by little, two simultaneous and very deep concerns were dragging him towards new territories: on the one hand, the call of the wild nature and the desire to feel part of it, and on the other hand, the seduction of artistic creation, with its certain risks and its possible summits. Two very strong calls that Emiliano managed to integrate positively when he moved with his family to San Martin de los Andes to live the natural rhythms and immerse himself in new challenges in a new and absolutely personal way to face his silversmith work.

It is easy to see how the recent works of our artist are capable of making the rigidity of the metal vibrate to the rhythm of the flashes of light that dance on the textures, how the waves that he inscribes on the steel surface tremble, how branches, leaves and flowers appear where there are only brief lines that insinuate them, how when going around each vase one can perceive drops or torrents that dialogue with the viewer.

Along the way, the usual techniques of beating, fretwork, welding and overlapping were left behind, replaced by the so-called “cold forging” -sometimes also 'raising' or 'hammer shaping'- which transforms the horizontal plate into a vertical piece without resorting to welding or any kind of applique (although, according to Emiliano, thanks to the use of special anvils and more than 50 hammers of different kinds.)