Alina Macías & Veronica Bellina

Natural colours created by hand

• Alina and Veronica's work seeks beauty in the everyday
• Their work is always exploring links with nature
• For them, colours are a way of life

Alina spent 20 years working in a Swiss watchmaking house, where she learned to appreciate the craftsmanship of making watches, then she decided to leave her entrepreneurial work and dedicate herself to making botanical dyes and floral pressing. She started at home, taking space away from her kitchen until, in 2018, she moved to a workshop in a shared studio with her business partner Verónica Bellina. Two years later they expanded to their own workspace in a warehouse in the neighbourhood of Tetuán, in Madrid, where they established Taller Silvestre, and from where they currently operate. They produce 100 percent natural dyes. Much of their time is spent in the collection and transformation of beautiful things they collect into colour, extracting colours from the landscape and reflecting the seasonal changes.

Interview

©Paco Marín

©Paco Marín

What is the most beautiful thing about your work?

The attitude and the restlessness. We are lucky to always be learning and creating new processes – nowadays consumers are very disconnected from processes, we are very used to simply acquiring finished products. Being able to transfer this way of understanding colour in fabrics to today's public is perhaps the most beautiful thing we can contribute with our work.

What secrets does your work hide?

Perhaps the physical work, of the body, which we find very beautiful and important. We regularly carry 40-litre pots, we drain, we strain colour extractions: it all leaves an imprint on our body, but in return we also leave something of us in each piece. In body and soul.

How has your profession changed over time?

The discovery of mauveine by Perkins in 1873 and the industrial revolution put an end to the craft of artisanal dyeing. Today, the word dyeing is associated with a garment cleaning establishment. We need to recover crafts, trades and work done by hand.

What do you enjoy most about your profession?

Being able to align thinking, feeling and doing. The sincere encounter with other people, through what we do, is moving.

Alina Macías & Veronica Bellina are rising stars: they began their career in 2018

Works

©Paco Marín

©Paco Marín

©All rights reserved

©Paco Marín

©All rights reserved

©All rights reserved

Where