Berenice Zenteno

When I was a little girl, I was fascinated by the colors, symbols and iconography of our traditional regional dress. I always wanted to wear them and looked for ways to combine their elements with my everyday clothing.

I'm Laura Berenice Zenteno from the capital of Chiapas. I graduated with a degree in graphic design, which has helped me enormously in the creative part of my work. But I'll be forever grateful to my paternal grandfather who encouraged my creativity and inspiration. He taught me to find a solution to all the problems that arise in life. I learned by myself and I'm not afraid to try new things.

"When I decided to craft jewelry, it was a difficult challenge to assimilate. However, during the development process, I began to discover the satisfaction in this work, such as the appreciation my customers and colleagues show me.

"I love visiting design bazaars to learn about new materials, to see the new trends in forms, color and fashion. This lets me perfect my technique.

"I find inspiration in the floral and geometric motifs of Chiapas textiles as well as in modern styles.

"Something I love is modeling and tinting porcelain. It's fun and challenging to paint the images and geometry by hand. We use a porcelain based on corn flour, which makes it flexible and moldable. My mother shapes the porcelain. I assemble the jewelry. We use aluminum, gold plated metals and natural amber mined locally.

"Our main objective is to promote the textile icons of the region, to satisfy the need for quality apparel and to make the area's creativity known. We want it to be recognized and rescued."