Where can I see her art?
Instagram: @livingfibers
Website: https://www.marianabaertl.com/
Mariana Baertl is a textile artist from Lima, Peru who currently lives and works in Barcelona, Spain. Her work mixes embroidery and weaving to create landscapes of varying texture and color. All her pieces have a sense of fluidity and movement, like the piece itself was indeed a living fiber.
Her Story
"Everyone in my house are creatives; my twin, my sister and my mother. I studied Fashion Design in Peru for three years. And then went to Barcelona, Spain from 2011 to 2013 to study Fashion Business Management at Pompeu Fabra University. After completing my degree, I returned to Peru to work at a corporate position for Falabella, which is a huge store in Chile, Peru and Colombia. I realized I had decided to study fashion because I was interested in the fabrics and textures, more than the business itself. So at some point, I bought a loom, which is a tool used for weaving, as a creative outlet from my corporate job. I initially experimented with weaving and created woven tapestries. However, to use a loom for weaving you have to be very organized, and do thread by thread in a certain order. And I am very disorganized (she says while laughing at herself). Therefore, I decided to explore embroidery, where you can start on any side and the creative process felt more fluid and organic. I had seen modern textile art at Pinterest, so I began to try to replicate it. Including the cute cactus that were in fashion at that time. But I felt that with embroidery I was missing the 3D effect and texture than weaving provided. Which led me to begin to think about mixing the organic feel of embroidery with the texture of and volume weaving. At the time, I was in New York, so I bought a plain canvas and started experimenting with different techniques to find out what worked and what materials I could use like voluminous wools. And this is when I started to find my artistic style.
A year and a half ago I came back to live at Barcelona. I always wanted to return. I feel like textile art has been more embraced in the past years and I feel part of a community."
Her Work
"I created Living Fibers as my artistic online pseudonym. I wanted a name that made reference to movement, nature, texture, and life. As I keep movement and texture as the foundation for all my creations."
"I use different color palettes. I carefully select the colors and brightness of the fibers. And how to combine them. I use muted, warm, not too bright tones. As my goal is for the piece to accompany the room it is in, not to overpower it. For the piece to provide a sense of calm and tranquility. I want to connect people with feelings of peace and relaxation."
"I find inspiration by observing the textures present in my surroundings. For example, a gap in the sidewalk has a more granulated texture than the straight floor we walk on, or the texture of a tree trunk, or even the texture of a landscape with different types of trees. There are many texture contrasts in nature. And I observe them, mostly during my mountain bike trips, and store them in my brain so they simmer and turn into ideas for my pieces."
"I worked on a commission for a hotel in Morocco. They were six pieces of 2 meters each. It was a challenge. But I liked exploring different dimensions."
What are you focused on now?
"I want to make a collection with an investigation and concept behind it."
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