Ana Marina Sanchez believes that when a piece of jewelry is one-of-a-kind, it creates a strong connection between it and its owner.

 

“It becomes more than just a piece of jewelry,” she said. “It becomes a treasure.”

 

Called Mexica Warrior Priestess, Sanchez's piece in the Hecho en Colorado exhibit is a carved pendant made of mixed metals and stone.

 

In pre-Columbian beliefs, there are different legends and stories about who went where after death, Sanchez said. Warriors who died during battle became in charge of the sunrise, and women who died during childbirth became in charge of the sunset. These are the two stories reflected in Sanchez's piece.

 

“My art speaks about who I am and where I come from,” Sanchez said.

 

Sanchez, 35, was born and raised in Mexico City. She immigrated to Los Angeles with her parents and her brother in the early 2000s, and lived there for 18 years.

 

Sanchez met her husband Adan, a California native, while living in Los Angeles. It was his job as a health coach for people living with Type II diabetes that brought the couple to Denver. A city girl at heart, Sanchez fell in love with Denver right away, she said.

 

In L.A., Sanchez attended California State University with dreams of becoming a teacher. Being undocumented at the time of her graduation, however, prevented Sanchez from being able to fulfill some post-graduation requirements to become an educator. So, she decided to take a year off and pursue something she always enjoyed — creating jewelry.

 

“It gives me so much joy,” Sanchez said, “being able to bring ideas to life.”

 

Her early days of jewelry-making — roughly 10 years ago — started out as getting together with friends and doing the craft together. Sanchez considers that she stepped into the professional world as a silversmith about three years ago, selling her jewelry at fairs, galleries and cultural events. After spending a number of years simultaneously exploring a variety of jobs — namely, working as a barista and freelance gigs in television production — Sanchez decided to pursue a career in jewelry-making fulltime near the end of last year. She launched her website, anamarinastudio.com, during the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

“There are so many great Mexican jewelers,” Sanchez said, adding they have “elevated Mexican design in history.”

 

Though Sanchez is thankful to now be able to make a living creating jewelry, she said she feels “very young” in her career.

 

“I'm still learning and exploring my voice as an artist,” Sanchez said. “But that's also exciting.”