Over the centuries, many animals have become jewelry icons—think: serpent, panther, lion—but it takes an outsider artist like Carolina von Wickenburg to see the beauty in…a hippopotamus?
It’s unconventional and perhaps a bit genius. Using a bulbous, water-loving mammal as your signature is a baller move, as the kids might say. It also shows that Wickenburg is a rare talent, one willing to forge new paths through her eponymous jewelry brand.
Before formally founding Carolina von Wickenburg around 2017, this Havana-born sculptor worked on commissions for individuals, governments, and businesses. She has sculpted everything from bespoke busts to large, organic pieces for company lobbies to public art. Her work is known for its size and detail.
Wickenburg’s first jewelry pieces were created not for sale to clients, but for her own use. She was getting together with some school friends and wanted to bring a gift for each of them. The hippo felt like the right symbol, as female hippos are fiercely protective mothers, Wickenburg says. Further research showed hippos also were seen as protective deities for women and children.
Maternal protection is something Wickenburg feels deeply. She was raised largely by a single mother, after her father was killed when he was 33. Wickenburg’s mother had to start over and build a new life for her family: They immigrated from Cuba to the United States and settled in Gainesville, Fla.
Wickenburg says she can look back and see early signs of her hippo and tiny-animal obsession. The small clay animals she sculpted as a high school junior won her a scholarship for local art classes, and she began thinking about a career in sculpture.
Financial reality was such that Wickenburg needed to work at a movie theater and ice cream shop while attending Florida International University. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in psychology, an area that fascinated her.
She moved to Miami, and as a social worker at the Little Havana Community Center from 1980 to 1983, she helped refugees from the Mariel boat lift integrate into life in the United States.
“During those years, we ran an art center for all the artists that came from Cuba. We were trying to find them work, and we would supervise classes in the evenings,” Wickenburg says. “They had a sculpture department, and this is where I had my first true experience with sculpting.”
When her not-for-profit job was defunded, Wickenburg did anything she could to stay employed, from pharmaceutical sales to radio jobs to advertising. In the late ’80s she relocated to New York, where she met her husband. With his support, she decided to go back to sculpting.
“I took some classes at the Art Students League in New York and pretty quickly just started my own work,” Wickenburg says.
Then came the hippo pendant. Friends loved them. Friends of friends asked for them. Wickenburg says she quickly saw a new opportunity, making custom pendants based on images her clients requested. The commissions were ever-changing and fun, including wolves, herons, even donkeys.
“I truly believe that jewelry can be more than an ornament or a status symbol,” Wickenburg says. “I strive to create pieces that speak to the wearer personally, that they can draw strength and meaning from, that evoke personal memories and stories.”
She makes each piece in clay first, slowly working it into the shape she wants. That is then cast in precious metal, with gemstones added as accents, such as emerald eyes for a golden hippo. Every detail is important to her, Wickenburg says.
“I want my work to stand out for its texture, authenticity, and handmade feel and to sit right at the intersection of sculpture and jewelry,” she says. “The feel of them in your hand is as important as the look.”
Top: A creator of large-scale sculptures, Carolina von Wickenburg has moved into fine jewelry. (Photos courtesy of Carolina von Wickenburg)
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