Cultural Bloom: ByGoldiie's artistic journey from Bonaire and Curaçao to the world
Blurring the lines between art and commerce
My last story of the year is special as it is part of Naïfs Magazine's 5-year-anniversary issue.
For each issue, Amanda Kabuiku - Naïfs Magazine’s founder and editor-in-chief - creates three distinct covers. To celebrate five years in the tumultuous world of print media, she and her creative team asked all the collaborators who have been there since day 1 to be on the cover. This is the result below.
For the record, Amanda and I have been working together for almost six years - we met as writers when we worked for All The Pretty Birds, the now-defunct online magazine created by digital talent Tamu McPherson - yet we never met physically. We got to know each other virtually, talking about work and our lives for hours over the phone. So, seeing this cover with all the creatives involved in making Naïfs Magazine made me super proud to be part of such a beautiful project.
PS: I’ll be back on January 15th after much-needed rest and reflections on where I want the newsletter to go.
Creole identities, cultures, and languages from the Caribbean to Latin America, Asia, and Africa have yet to be considered. So, when I was invited to talk to the Dutch Antillean artist Goldiie, I couldn’t have been more delighted. Chatting with her was the occasion to dive into a Creole identity and culture through her craft that mainstream media has yet to write about. Below is our interview. I hope you’ll enjoy it!
Seeing ByGoldiie’s accessories and pieces of art for the first time will make you believe the flowers covered in epoxy resin—the brand’s signature—have not yet been plucked out of the garden. Looking both fragile and firm as if they were in full bloom, the organic flowers delicately adorn the ears of a beautiful dark-skinned model in each image photographed by Goldiie, the multidisciplinary artist behind ByGoldiie. Beware, though! The Dutch Antillean creative might call them earrings for convenience and clarity for people buying her pieces, but she refuses to put her work and herself in a box, as confirmed by the words welcoming the visitors of ByGoldiie’s website: “Multidisciplinary artist with an online store, this is not just ‘just a jewellery and an object brand,’ it’s an artistic endeavour. Consider yourself an art collector.” Not quite a brand, nor a store, and even less an accessories and jewellery brand—to understand why Goldiie doesn’t want to be defined and describes her project as an artistic endeavour, it is necessary to travel back to the islands of Bonaire and Curaçao, where she is from.
“My mother is from Curaçao and grew up around a large family of thirteen siblings, whereas my father is from Bonaire—a tiny island,” she says. Bonaire and Curaçao are part of the ABC islands (A stands for Aruba, B for Bonaire, and C for Curaçao), just a few kilometres away from the north of Venezuela. Former colonies of the Netherlands, these islands are now autonomous regions part of the Dutch Antilles. Goldiie depicts a warm and happy childhood in a tight-knit community where everyone knows each other. “Back in the day, it was really small, so everybody knew each other. There was one school, and I was friends with Latinos, people born on the islands, the geeks... I loved growing up on an island because it was like being surrounded by family since we all knew each other. Nonetheless, I always felt different.” Goldiie grew up in Bonaire and Curaçao; consequently, she was never seen as a Bonairean by Bonaireans and Curaçaoan by Curaçoans. “When we moved to Bonaire, the kids at school thought I was Curaçaoan because I didn’t speak the same as them since my mother is from Curaçao. When I was in Curaçao, people thought I was from Bonaire because my father is from there. I felt in-between; that’s probably why my work revolves a lot around identity. I reference Bonaire and Curaçao a lot because both islands made me the person I am today,” she adds.
The life in Bonaire and Curaçao that Goldiie depicts reminds me of my Cameroonian-Seychellois cousin who lives in Victoria, the Seychelles' capital. The economy and workforce are based on tourism and all the services the islanders need. "You have to go to Curaçao to go to university. There are two options: either you work a nine-to-five for a bank, or you work in a hotel. And I didn’t see myself doing any of those things,” she says, confirming my thoughts. In the West, we are fed stories of creatives pre-internet—when they came from small towns—frustrated by what happened in the big cities by browsing magazines, listening to iconic bands (but who gets to define what and who is iconic?) or watching TV. But what is fascinating about Goldiie is that it was none of that. She didn’t look for creativity outside her realm. It was already there. With the United States reachable in a few hours by plane, it could seem that the American dream could have been the right option for Goldiie, but it didn’t cross her mind. The Dutch Antilleans would rather go to the Netherlands than stress themselves with bureaucratic paperwork to get a visa and green card. After all, they are Dutch citizens. During our conversation, Goldiie alludes to the fact that the Dutch dream of going to the Netherlands “to make something of yourself and achieve things” exists in the ABC islands, but it doesn’t seem she crossed the ocean for that reason.
Goldiie has a strong sense of self and identity, which doesn’t warrant that one goes with the other. You can have an understanding of who you are but not necessarily a sense of where you belong. Yet, Goldiie is blessed to have both. Blessed because coming from two islands with distinctive yet close Creole cultures, she doesn’t seem to feel more attachment to one or the other or to know more or less about one or the other: “Our language, Papiamentu, and music, tambu, are literally the same. Bonaireans are old school, but not in a bad way. They live in their own bubble and are really humble. They don’t like showing off, and they are quiet and peaceful. On the other hand, Curaçaoans love to show off, dancing and going out." Listening to her talk about the similarities and differences between Bonaire and Curaçao made me think about how rich the Caribbean is, yet we often forget it.
The mainstream media put, through music, Jamaica, Barbados, and Puerto Rico on the map. Names like Bob Marley, Grace Jones, or, more recently, Sean Paul, Rhianna, or Bad Bunny have helped shine a light on Caribbean cultures. The April 2023 TIME cover of Bad Bunny wearing designer Willy Chavarria, accompanied by a headline in Spanish in an American magazine renowned worldwide, has made a case for Puerto Rico and opened up the world to be more curious about Spanish-speaking Caribbean islands and the Latino cultures.
Creole cultures stemming from that region are often mistakenly thought of as one. Yet, there are differences even within islands like Bonaire and Curaçao, which are 77 km away from each other. Papiamentu, the language spoken in both islands, is a Portuguese-based creole with Dutch and Spanish influence, whose inflections, accents, and words change depending on where you are. This is fascinating proof that the history of these islands fostered diversity even within the smallest communities—Curaçao has almost 148.000 inhabitants, whereas Bonaire has slightly more than 24.090. Goldiie perfectly encapsulates this cultural richness. And I have a funny anecdote to tell you about it. The first question I asked her when we met virtually was if Goldiie was her real name. And she confided in me it wasn't. She chose to go by a moniker instead of her birth name to separate her private life from her professional one. So why Goldiie? Because of an A$AP Rocky 2012 song aptly named Goldie. Lead single of the rapper's 2013 album, Long.Live.ASAP, Goldie has a music video directed by A$AP Rocky himself, who is wearing a golden grillz—dental jewellery. Borrowing her name to such a song, I assumed I’d find jewellery made of gold on her site, but I couldn’t be further from the truth. Instead, I was surprised to see delicate flowers.
So, what does A$AP Rocky and a nickname have to do with cultural richness, you ask? Well, this is what Goldiie has to say about it: “I have those two personalities [editor’s note: the quiet Bonairean and the loud Curaçoan] in me. I am really quiet and humble; that’s why I go by Goldiie. Before, I didn’t show my face, so people didn’t know I was Goldiie. Now, when they know it’s me, they are surprised.” As we keep the conversation going, I understand that ByGoldiie is the loud Curaçaoan. The pieces speak for themselves. Whether they are colourful petals or pistils in a bright white, ByGoldiie “jewelart” embodies a calm strength that has attracted the fashion world. During ModaLisboa, the designer created accessories to accompany the Spring-Summer 2025 collection of Madeiran fashion designer Maria Do Carmo. And the result is exquisite: gigantic earpieces, rings, and necklaces made of transparent blue and green marbles that look earthly and ethereal. For Amsterdam Fashion Week, she also collaborated with Guadeloupean fashion designer Fabien Zou, for whom she created pieces with an organic geometry—as if nature made them.
Her choice to work with two people who, like her, come from islands makes me feel like you can take the girl out of the island, but you can’t take the island out of the girl. That is why I believe that rather than following the Dutch dream, Goldiie is following her own, putting Curaçao and Bonaire front and centre for the world to see their beauty. Leaving the Dutch Antilles was motivated by her studies. She was interested in marketing and communication, but the university in Curaçao didn’t offer such classes. So off she went to Amsterdam and studied marketing and communication while adding to her curriculum event organization and cross-media communication before dropping out to dedicate herself to photography—an art form that her mother, the family’s photographer, passed onto her. “While studying marketing and communication and cross-media communication, I started experimenting with photography. And I began to realize I was more interested in it than my studies. I didn’t know about art school, let alone photography classes, so as I contemplated taking more editorial pictures and applying to photography courses, some artist friends advised me not to. They told me I already had my signature style and that if I went to study photography, it would shape my vision into something different,” she recalls of that time.
Goldiie has been boiling with creativity since she was a child, creating adorned menus for guests or taking pictures of the sunset, which she is obsessed with. Though artistic careers aren’t a thing in Bonaire and Curaçao, she recognizes she got her artistic sensibility from her mother and a florist aunt. She has always loved making things with her hands, so in 2017, she started making chokers out of fabric and then switched to making tie-dye t-shirts. It was during that same period that, while browsing the internet, a plastic necklace attracted her attention. She wondered which material it was made from and discovered it was epoxy resin. Epoxy resin is a material often used for artwork and is appreciated for its versatility. It can be used for coating, casting, laminates, or glue. Applicable on many surfaces, it is a long-lasting and durable material with a glossy, smooth, and glass-like finish for decorative applications. When Goldiie tells me about her first experience using it, I am both worried and laughing because working with epoxy resin is like doing chemistry. The material is highly sensitive, as the time frame for it to stay malleable is very limited. On the other hand, its curing time—when the finish coating has reached its maximum hardness and chemical resistance—can be affected by humidity, resulting in inconsistencies and improper curing. So, it's no wonder I am horrified when she tells me she didn’t read the instructions on her first attempt!
“I wasn’t doing anything with flowers at the beginning. I created pieces having fun mixing colours. I didn’t even sell them at the time until I put them online, and people wanted to buy them,” Goldiie tells me. Experimenting and researching more and more about epoxy resin, she became increasingly fascinated by its capacity to be moulded or have a life of its own and then turn into organic shapes. “So, why the flowers?” I asked her, intrigued. “It was during lockdown. I had flowers at home, and their smell reminded me of my florist aunt. I had vivid memories of her doing flower arrangements in her shop and selling them to people. And I thought I could do something with them. Then, a friend asked me to work on a photography concept, and I made earrings, not thinking much of it, and surprisingly, everybody loved them.” ByGoldiie's signature flowers are actually the work of serendipity. Once the multidisciplinary artist found her distinctive trait, she worked relentlessly on perfecting her craft, first using a mould and adding a flower on top of it, then coating the petals with resin. As her technique improved, the price rose. And it isn’t a coincidence that Goldiie is an artist with business acumen—a rarity in the creative world. Her mother used to sell candies, and it was by observing her that she learned the ropes. ByGoldiie has customers who have been there since day 1 and bought the earpieces when they were just 10€, and that’s a source of pride for the designer.
On ByGoldiie’s website, the pieces range from 40€ to 125€, and most of the models are sold out. Sold out for Goldiie means not restocking. She learned very early on not to let herself be overwhelmed. When she started, Elle Netherlands featured her pieces; consequently, she had a surge in demand. But instead of looking to produce more without a proper structure, she preferred to put her project on pause to create the type of business—because it is one—she wanted. She also said no to Macy’s, who wanted to sell her pieces because she knew it wasn’t the space where she saw ByGoldiie be. “I am happy I did say no to Macy’s. The right people and opportunities will come along on my path. I see myself in a small boutique or at the MoMa. I am glad I didn’t rush into making some decisions in the past. I am someone who, if I am not ready, won’t do anything, even if the opportunity is good. I literally take my time,” she tells about her approach to growing ByGoldiie. It’s a unique way of tackling things in a world where everything needs to grow big and fast, especially in creative industries. At a time when many are closing up shop, it is fascinating to observe that people like Goldiie, who are creating their own rules, might be the ones who stay strong and firm.
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