Vanessa Barragão’s Sprawling Biomorphic Textiles Evoke the Remarkable Textures of the Sea Floor

Art
Craft

#coral
#nature
#textiles
#Vanessa Barragão

Vanessa Barragão’s Sprawling Biomorphic Textiles Evoke the Remarkable Textures of the Sea Floor

June 22, 2023

Kate Mothes

All images © Vanessa Barragão, shared with permission

Sprawling tufts of looped, wound, and crocheted yarn scale walls and floors in Vanessa Barragão’s elaborate, nature-inspired textiles. The Portuguese artist (previously) draws inspiration from the textures of coral, rock pools, botanicals, and the cosmos to compose expansive fiber pieces.

Each piece can take upwards of three weeks to complete, as Barragão and a team of six studio assistants—including her mother and sister, with additional crocheted contributions from her grandmothers—collaboratively knot the yarn through every single hole in the jute canvas to create lush, biomorphic forms.

If you’re near Lisbon, you can find Barragão’s work in Morphosis at the Museu das Artes de Sintra, Portugal, alongside ceramicist Catarina Nunes, which opens June 29 and runs through October 1. Find more on the artist’s website and Instagram.

#coral
#nature
#textiles
#Vanessa Barragão

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