Margara Cortés

Metalworker

©Demófilo Vitorique Millano

©Guillermo Ramírez Torres

©Demófilo Vitorique Millano

The alchemist of metalwork

Margara discovered metalworking by mistake
She works closely with artists and designers to make their creations
A medal she made was given to Juan Carlos I, then King of Spain

Margara Cortés Maruri was a student in cabinetmaking and furniture restoration when she ended up enrolling in a metalwork course by mistake. This was the beginning of her love story with metal. She initially became a goldsmith and silversmith for jewellery and religious pieces. However, over more than 30 years she mastered all techniques related to metal, with particular interest in embossing and lost wax casting. Until recently her work has remained behind the scenes, as she supports designers and artists in realising their own artistic visions. But in 2010, she started to focus on her own work – bronze sculptures of fruit and vegetables, inspired by traditional still life paintings.

Interview

©Guillermo Ramírez Torres

©Guillermo Ramírez Torres

How has your career progressed over the years?: In Seville we have the tradition of religious goldsmithing and silversmithing, so that started my career. However, over the years I researched all techniques related to metal. Now, I am the artisan behind the work of others; my hands shape, cast, melt, polish, weld. My work is an alchemy of these processes.
What sort of commissions do you work on?: All sorts, even large-scale sculptures, like statues and monuments. Excellence is my goal and every step is painstakingly executed. Throughout my career I have worked behind the scenes, making what others devise, and I have never suffered from it. But now I also focus on my own creations.
What inspires your own work?: Recently I have been focusing on fruit and flower still life bronze sculptures, and for those I look to the classic masters of Spanish painting – Zurbarán and Sánchez Cotán among others – but also to the work of my great-grandfather, who was passionate about painting.
Do you work alone?: Mostly, but I now have four young apprentices helping me. I like to collaborate with people, to teach and handover my knowledge to young people. I am a curious person and an enthusiast, in love with my craft, which I master with great pride.

Margara Cortés is a master artisan: she began her career in 1984 and she started teaching in 1999