ACAI SCULPTURE

Where some see discard piles from the Amazon rainforest, Flor Silva sees raw materials. Combine her strong aesthetic sense with a commitment to uplifting her community and practicing sustainability, and you get a world-class artist.

Flor uses wood, seeds, fibers, scales, calabash and other components from the rainforest that would have otherwise been discarded. Thanks to Flor’s eye for beauty in the unexpected, her sustainable sourcing generates value from what would have otherwise been discarded, and proves that a standing forest is profitable. Every piece is handmade and can take up to 15 days to craft. Flor’s family endeavor employs 12 people — including indigenous and riverside community members who have historically faced serious poverty in the deep Amazon.

Flor has lived around the forest her whole life, but she fell in love with the Amazon’s raw materials while working as a guide in Manaus, Brazil—a city on the confluence of two rivers and surrounded by rainforest. Passing through markets full of seeds, fibers, and other byproducts of the rainforest, Flor was so inspired by their potential that she switched careers. For the last 20 years, Flor has transformed the offerings of the Amazon into high-end art.

Behind every masterpiece, sustainable development of communities and protection of the rainforest.