Deisy Liliana is a young artisan who fills with pride knowing that she is one of the very few female filigree jewelers in her region. The craft, typically practiced by the most experienced male artisans, is surrounded by secrecy and a long tradition centered around alluvial gold. Having grown up in Roberto Payán, very close to Barbacoas, the land of gold, Deisy was always surrounded by filigree. It was present in the jewelry worn by the women of her family, in the gift her mother gave her at the age of 12, in the small pieces used to protect newborns, and in the community’s own savings: they used to buy gold jewelry and treasure it in chests until the need arose to sell them and use the money.

Accessing the knowledge she now possesses, however, had its challenges. It all started when she arrived in Tumaco after finishing high school and came across a workshop sponsored by Save The Children. There, she received her first training in filigree from Master Eber Yela. Of the 60 people who enrolled, only 5 finished the course, the same ones who founded the Morro Young Jewelers Association. So Deisy, along with Janer Arturo Mesa, Andrea Giselle Olaya, Vanessa Hurtado, and Giselle Estasio, decided to delve into the technique and dedicate themselves to it. First, they had to demonstrate to the masters their love for the craft and their sincere desire to learn more. Only then could they access the details of filigree practice.

Since then, they have been making the traditional colepato and fan rings, as well as king rings, chains, bracelets, bangles, pins, and brooches. They use silver, which they buy in Bogotá, and the gold from their territory. In their workshop, they set up the Living Filigree Museum and offer their visitors and clients to take part in the making of the pieces. For example, they receive couples ready to marry and accompany them in the making of their wedding rings. Each season they open basic or intensive courses so that those who visit them for a day or a month can learn even a bit of the craft. They are seen at all the local gatherings offering their creations, polished and sincere, among which stand out the amulets they made in 2023 in collaboration with an artisan from Cauca for 15 social leaders from Nariño and Cauca, which they offered to them with the intention of protecting them from the constant threats of conflict.

Deisy sees in filigree a means to express herself and draw, with threads of gold and silver, the figures of nature that surround and inspire her. She’s especially attracted by the wings of the hummingbird and the butterflies, which she draws with detail and transforms into rings and flowers. In her creations and those of her colleagues, their territory is always present, those huge lotus flowers floating near their stilt houses, the oars of the canoes in which they transport themselves, the mangroves, the sea, and all its fish. It is fortunate for the filigree tradition that these four new artisans have arrived because, as Deisy well knows, they have come to contribute with the detail and care that characterizes them. For her part, she is excited to involve her family in the craft and, even if they do not fall in love with filigree or want to be jewelers, they can learn to appreciate it and share it with the same love that she shares with them. In her attempts to captivate her brothers, one of them has already ventured and made his first filigree piece: a ring for their grandmother.