Contemporary Sculptural Jewelry
Handcrafted in Bothell, WA
My motto: Do fewer things. Mean all of them
I started with drawing lessons in Greece — that was where the pull toward making things began. For almost ten years after that, I studied jewelry making alongside a corporate career in operations and project management. Two tracks, running in parallel, until the one I chose on the side became the one I couldn't let go of.
I moved to Washington, set up a studio in the Seattle area, and built Porpe Artifacts from there. The operations mind didn't disappear — it shows up in how I structure my collections, manage production, and think about materials. But the work itself is all hands. Wax carving, casting, oxidizing, bonding gold to silver.
Porpe Artifacts is two collections build for different moods. Metalworks is sculptural and deep. Each piece starts as a hand-carved wax form, gets cast in sterling silver, then oxidized to a deep charcoal black. From there I apply 24k gold using keum-boo — an ancient Korean technique that bonds gold foil to silver with heat and pressure. The gold is permanent. The contrast between warm gold and dark silver is what gives these pieces their depth, and it only gets better with wear. Everyday Forms is the other side — geometric, minimal, designed to move with your day. Sterling silver and 14k gold filled, fabricated from sheet and wire. Clean lines, simple geometry.
Every now and then, a third collection appears. Studio Editions — a limited run of seasonal pieces, available for a few months, then gone.
What all three share: every piece is handmade in my studio, every material is chosen to age well, and nothing here needs protecting from real life. The oxidation will shift. The silver will soften. Six months in, the piece looks like it belongs to you in a way it didn't when it arrived.
Where to find the work
The collections are available online and at three Seattle stores — Danaca Art Gallery, LIDO, and KOBO (Learn more, here). I also show at a few local markets each year (learn more here).
Meet Porpe’s Team
Mina Katsouli - Jewelry Designer, Metalsmith, Graphic Designer
Mina contributes to Porpe Artifacts across design, production, photography, and visual identity. She's a metalsmith and graphic designer who works across disciplines without losing precision in any of them.
You can explore Mina's art HERE.
Marialena Platanioti - Curator & Designer for Pink Lemonade & Administrative Assistant
Marilena supports Porpe Artifacts through event assistance, customer communication, and administrative work. She also designs select pieces within the Everyday Forms Collection.