I’m a visual artist from Bogotá, Colombia, and currently a member of the design team at Bajo, a renowned wooden toy manufacturer located in Poland. Before joining the team in 2020, I received my Master’s in Visual Arts from the Academy of Arts, Architecture, and Design in Prague.
My principal interest revolves around the creation of objects and toys, often mechanical. Through these mediums, I explore the relationship between art, design, and fun.
Lately, I have become more aware of the importance of humor and a sense of wonder in the design process. I firmly believe these characteristics can make objects more relatable, thus making the human experience more emotional and warm, something we all crave, particularly in these times of absorbing technology and increasing alienation.
The works in this portfolio are a collection of experiments, not only because of the different mediums and materials I played with but also because of the different ways in which the pieces are trying to define the nature of what a toy can be.
MERMAID/ polystyrene, whistle. 2019
This mermaid toy is a bath tub companion; it can float next to you, but if you submerge it in water, she will sing for you. I developed this toy inspired by similar singing ceramics from pre-Columbian times. Essentially, the water that enters the bottom of the mermaid pushes air upwards and through a whistle. This toy is also my first attempt at using plastic.
No microchips no batteries!
The toys we make are aim to all ages and they are a modern take on the wooden toys of the past. The whole idea was to create objects that could be manufactured using very simple technics such as laser cutting, silkscreen printing and wire bending. Each one of the five toys represents a different animal and has a particular movement.
These series of toys won one of the categories of the ‘Lápiz de Acero’ Award in 2017 . The most prestigious design award in Colombia.
Painted wood, wire and cloth.
MOUSE/
Painted Wood, felt, weights and string.
2015
Painted wood and weights. 2015
PENGUIN/
Painted wood and wires. 2015
MY TIME IN PRAGUE/
2018 - 2020
The two years I spent at the Academy of Arts Architecture and Design of Prague, have given me the oportunity to explore a new side of my practice.
In 2019, I joined the Concept - Object - Meaning Studio run by professor Eva Eisler. Here, I have been able not only to produce toys but also pieces of jewelry and wearable objects that I have aproached with the same joyfulness and fun as my other work.
The metal technics of the jewllers are also one of the most intersting new aditions to my tool set. Working with this new material has been fundamental to my recent work.
AnnularAnimal/
These series of objects are in between toys and jewlry, a concept that I explore under the umbrella term “Joy-Llery” a mix of the wearable and the playfull. They are articulated animals that you can use as rings and interact with them making them hop, gallop or just walk, in a way they are the next step of finger puppets
FLAPPING HEART/
The first object of a duo; the Flapping Heart is a series of two pins inspired by the idea of flirting. Once more, I’m trying to blur the lines between a wearable object and a toy. You only need to lightly press the sides of the heart to make it move. It is supposed to work as a signal of attraction.
The winking eye is the second piece of the series. An invitation for flirtatious play in the form of a wearable toy.
SHAMANS AND MONSTERS/ 2020
As part of my master’s diploma project, I have been developing a series of toys inspired by the mythology of the American continent: both of pre-columbian origin and the one created by the first europeans. The result is a sincretic group of objects that blur the lines between both worlds and tell the story of magic and realism that lays under the faundation of Latin American Identity. A topic that has been central for me in the past years.
Cover of the voyages of sir Walter Raleigh (fragment). Levinus Hulsius, 1601.
The Frog is one of the most sacred creatures for the people of the Americas and it is the inspiration for this toy. However, here it is combined with a Blemmy, one of the monstruos creatures the spanish conquistadors wrote about in their first reports of the exploration of the new continent during the XV century: a human with no head and with all his features in chest.
The jaguar was the animal in which the warriors of the Indian groups used to transform into before going to battle. In this push along toy, I represented it as a creature full of vitality and strength. There is a secondary interpretation for this creature: a Maticore, a terrible monster with a cuadrouped body and the head of a man said to inhabit the south of the Americas.
2015 - 2017
The idea of metamorphosis was particularly important for the Pre-Columbian shamans. To blend with the animal was to see the world from a different perspective. In this case from high above the clouds as a bird or from the aquatic world of fish.
In the many chronicles of the Indies that the conquistadores wrote to described the Americas in the XV century, there is a common character: a human with particularly long earlobes. I used this character as an inspiration for one of my toys. Normally it is said to be sleeping covered with his ears as if they where blankets but instead here he is being a little more ambitious, using them in his attempt to fly.
Homo Fanesius Auritus. Jean-Baptiste Coriolan, 1642.
BAJO TOY FACTORY/
In 2020 I joined the design team at Bajo Wooden Toys, since then I have been designing toys for the international market. Aside from the pursuit of aesthetic and design quality I have made my personal goal to bring new sources of inspiration and to focus on diverse cultural references.
GALAPAGOS TOYS/
This set of four pull toys developed for Bajo is trying to find new horizons and sources of inspiration, this time I decided to look at the Galapagos Archipelago, a magical place famous not only for its diversity but also for the role it played in the development of the theory of evolution after Charles Darwin, partly inspired by the local fauna, formulated his ideas about the origin of species.
Th e series depicts some of the most iconic inhabitants of these islands, and it represents their different methods of locomotion by the use of non convention triangular wheels, which give all the creatures a funny reciprocating movement while children play with them.
painted wood. 2021
painted wood. 2021
IGUANA/ painted wood. 2021
TORTOISE/
painted wood. 2021
Tortoises are probably the most famous inhabitants of the Galapagos, this collection wouldn’t be complete without it. Apart from being a pull toy this tortoise also works as a simple sorter. The blocks on its back come with a printed pattern that despite its simplicity allows children to create a multiplicity of designs.
BRICKS ON WHEELS/
set of eight wooden blocks.
2021
Blocks are usually associated with architecture and construction, with stability, but with this new set I decided to take them on the road. I wanted to give children the possibility of putting them together to create different vehicles, thus exploring the blocks as a dynamic element rather than a static one.
Children can put the blocks together in different combinations and orientations and then, the matching holes will allow them to pass a string joining them together. The end result are interesting composition of shapes, color and solid and soft elements
Memento is, in essence, a Toy-Clock, however rather than focusing on teaching children about numbers and how to read time, it is a piece that will help them explore the inevitability of the passing time, it is a sort of “Carpe Diem ‘’ for infants.
Memento has a mechanism hidden inside. It allows the dial to turn“clockwise” while you pull it, this action is accompanied by a pleasant Tick-Tack sound, as that happens you can find windows in the back that show you the days passing by and a gear turning constantly. However, what happens when you decide to go backward? nothing… absolutely nothing, you can try to go back all you want but time moves only in one direction, so you better make the most out of it.
MEMENTO/ painte and printed wood. 2023
PRISMA ROVER/
painted wood. 2023
The mechanism allowing this car is simple, a series of multicolor prisms are connected to the wheels, and as the car is pulled or pushed the prisms turn, alternating between the colors of their faces and creating a screen-like effect. The prisms can act in synchrony so that the colors change uniformly or they can go for a funkier, more chaotic combination of colors. It is an homage to the aesthetics of modernism that had been fundamental to the development of my toy production.
FLAUNDER/
wood. 2021
This rattle is designed to capture the eccentric goofiness of flounder fish, turning it into a charming character.
Children will be delighted by the soothing sound it produces when they shake it. But the fun really kicks in when it rolls across the floor. As it moves, the eyes of the fish wiggle, giving it a wonderfully crossed-eye look that completes the magic.
This toy isn’t just about the sound; it’s about engaging kids with its quirky movement and playful personality. It’s a rattle that’s both entertaining and interactive, adding a touch of fun to playtime with its unique, flounder-inspired charm.
CHAMELEON/
painted wood. 2024
This chameleon toy is a mechanical miniature marvel. Pull it along, and watch as its intricately crafted components work in harmony, creating a mesmerizing color-shifting effect in its belly—a playful tribute to the chameleon’s remarkable camouflage.
With each movement, its eyes swivel unpredictably, capturing the unique, inquisitive gaze of chameleons in the wild. This piece is a tribute to nature’s wonders, bringing a touch of enchantment to an unforgettable object.
