Sol Diaz’s ingenous futuristic jewellery make a stance for LGBTQI+ jewelers

Sol Diaz is a Latinx trans/nonbinary jeweler and metalsmith. When in college, their guidance counselor recommended a jewelry class, a class that led them down a path of creation coming through with their own brand, Soelia. 

Realizing all the possibilities offered by jewelry creation, Sol Diaz immediately wanted to explore all of its facets. Through their creation, they wanted to create a space for everyone. Inspired by their Indigenous Mayan ancestors from Honduras, their creations explore indigenous futurism. The artistic movement intertwines traditional hand craftsmanship with science fiction, offering a vast amount of creative possibilities. 

Soelia attaches importance to celebrating one’s individuality. Their jewelry pieces are spiritual and offer space for the wearer to discover themselves. If Sol Diaz explores indigenous futurism, they also research wearability and accessibility within their creations. Some of their pieces are more unconventional, like the masks they create through the assembly of different jewelry pieces for the face.

Besides Soelia, Sol Diaz also founded Queer Metalsmiths, a community aiming to center and uplift LGBTQI+ jewelers and metalsmiths. Queer Metalsmiths is above all a space of collaboration, where queer people in the industry can work together to create a space for themselves.

Recently, the jewelry industry has been progressively opening to conversations about diversity and inclusion. Despite this good start, this is not merely enough: the effort is still very much performative, without any actions following up. Sol Diaz emphasizes that allies should take direct actions to give BIPOC and LGBTQI+ individuals access to the industry. Granting scholarships and providing free workshops or paid internships are examples of actions that need to be taken to create a space for BIPOC and LGBTQI+ people. 

Discover some of Soelia’s creations by scrolling down below!