Simone Cabral, an artist based in Bloomington, Indiana, transforms discarded aluminum coffee pods into sustainable jewelry and art pieces. Drawing from her background in environmental sanitation and jewelry training, she emphasizes the value of upcycling everyday waste. Her work invites wearers to reconsider the potential of discarded materials.
Simone Cabral, founder of By Soul & Hands, has been practicing upcycling since 2021. Based in Bloomington, Indiana, she collects used aluminum coffee pods from her community and manually processes them—cleaning, sanitizing, flattening, cutting, folding, and shaping each one by hand. The pods arrive dented and stained, and Cabral embraces these imperfections rather than removing them, creating durable pieces suitable for everyday wear.
Her professional experience as a technician in environmental sanitation informs her approach, combined with training from a Brazilian jewelry designer that refined her techniques for working with unconventional materials. Early experiments focused on how the lightweight yet sharp aluminum withstands pressure and long-term use, ensuring the jewelry is comfortable and robust.
Building trust with audiences poses a challenge, as the familiar waste material initially raises questions about its value. Cabral addresses this through transparency, sharing the labor-intensive process at art fairs, workshops, and local retail spaces. She notes that conversations often shift once people understand the skill involved, moving from inquiries about the material's origin to appreciation of the craftsmanship.
Inspiration for her designs comes from the coastal landscapes of northeast Brazil, where she was born, and the quieter terrain of Indiana. This organic influence contrasts with the industrial pods, resulting in pieces that blend rhythm and texture. Cabral has not encountered other artists using coffee pods at in-person events, though she has seen online examples.
Through her work, Cabral promotes sustainability as thoughtful and accessible. Her tagline, 'Wear the change you want to see,' encapsulates the idea that jewelry can spark dialogue about waste as a resource in transition rather than an endpoint.