Art Residency at Fundación ‘ACE

Coming from a background in fashion design, I always struggled against the fact of being perceived as frivolous on first impression. Nevertheless, fashion and textiles have always played an important role in everyone’s life. Furthermore, they have always been used to express our individuality by means of shape and color. Even those who claim not to care and just ‘throw some clothes on’, are in fact saying something about themselves as well.

Textiles are not only used for self-expression but also as protective devices: e.g. kids wear superhero capes in order to feel invincible and adults wear specific garments as lucky charms for an exam or an interview. Consequently, reflecting upon these issues within a quarantine context, I then wonder what my shelter is.

I can think of the times when I was a kid and I had a small pillowcase I could not sleep without. I remember its softness against my face and my irrational need of it to fall asleep. Later on, during my teenage years, I used fashion as a way of expression. Nowadays, I choose my art as my shelter and while some people meditate, I embroider.

‘The future’s not what it used to be’, 2020 43x27cm hand embroidery on my childhood pillowcase

I embroidered “The Future’s” lyric (song by Motez feat. Antony & Cleopatra) on my piece to relate the meaning of shelter through time and the fact that we are facing the path of an uncertain future. Ironically, the videoclip is set in reversed time.