Grand dossier
For LatinArte’s project Vues transversales. Panorama de la scène artistique latino-québécoise (Across Disciplines: A Panorama of Latin American Art in Quebec), ten artists spoke about their practice and about Montréal. Here is Ana Catalina Montoya’s story.
Just as a fern leaf, a snowflake, or a beehive repeats a geometric or spatial element over and over on a single plane, my creations, mainly hand-crafted out of sterling silver, repeat a pattern until they take shape.
— Ana Catalina Montoya
Ana Catalina Montoya - 2019
Originally from Colombia, Ana Catalina Montoya is a jeweler and entrepreneur based in Montréal. She has always been fascinated by organic forms and patterns, drawing inspiration from nature’s architecture to create contemporary jewelry. Behind each piece lies an exploration of fractal geometry. Montoya’s creative process involves using simple or minimalist organic shapes as a starting point for complex modular structures. She calls this approach “organic minimalism.”
In 2014, Montoya founded her business KA Joaillerie, the first step in a project to bring together multidisciplinary artists in collective craft arts experimentation.
Montoya’s signature style is imbued into every piece she makes. Approaching experimentation from all possible angles, her pieces incorporate techniques that combine recycled materials and industrial and manual crafting techniques. For example, she often uses thermoplastic powder coating, an industrial colouring method.
In Québec, Montoya has participated in workshops with renowned creators, including Jorge Castañón, with whom she studied traditional and experimental jewelry making techniques. In 2018, she curated the contemporary jewelry exhibition Routes Australes: Contemporary Jewelry from Argentina at Galerie Noel Guyomarc’h in Montréal.
Her creations have gained her recognition across the craft arts community. Currently Ana Catalina Montoya’s work can be found on exhibit at art centres and galleries across Québec and around the world.
ARGONZA, Mariza Rosales (dir.). Vues transversales. Panorama de la scène artistique latino-québécoise, Montréal, Éditions du CIDIHCA, 2018, 300 p.
