El Techichi Jewelry

El Techichi is the visual diary of Omar Monroy, who uses jewelry to capture past and present memories and emotions of their childhood, while also using it as a conduit for decolonization. Omar is Ñaha Savi, or a woman of Ñuu Savi descent, whose family is from Plan del Vergel, Oaxaca, but was raised in Huajuapan de León before moving to Ontario, California (Kizch Land).

El Techichi is a love letter to a young brown child who played with makeshift cars made from Mary Kay boxes, roamed a little river downhill from their house, and saw lightning dragons in the skies. Their flair for the dramatic and creativity comes from the femme people in their life. It is also a love letter to Rue the Chihuahua, whose ancient magic was the catalyst for this whole adventure.

Their work has been featured on icon Lily Gladstone and has even appeared in an article in Vogue.

El Techichi Jewelry is created with the intention of being maximalist and gender-neutral. A key belief of Omar's is that we create opulence and adornment to set status and feel closer to our deities. It has nothing to do with gender, so why limit ourselves by gender constructs imposed on us by colonizers?