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At 92 years old, Colombian textile and visual artist Olga de Amaral has recently seen a remarkable resurgence in recognition, with a growing market presence and heightened institutional interest that surged after her 2022 debut with Lisson Gallery. De Amaral’s rich body of work merges fiber art with the spiritual and natural essence of Colombia, blending traditional textile techniques with modernist explorations of geometry, color, materials and three-dimensionality. Her practice draws from her studies at the Cranbrook Academy of Art and her deep connection to pre-Columbian art and Colombian textile traditions.
In conjunction with Art Basel Paris, Fondation Cartier has mounted the first major European retrospective of her work, offering a comprehensive look at her artistic evolution. De Amaral treats textiles as a form of language, creating intricate, textured surfaces that play with light and space. Her works transcend functionality, serving as sacred monuments or portals, bridging the human and cosmic realms.
The exhibition is organized both chronologically and thematically, highlighting how de Amaral’s practice pushes the boundaries of textiles as a mode of expression. It showcases her modernist influences, including the Bauhaus, alongside her relentless experimentation with scale, materials, and light, always maintaining a deep connection to the natural world and the Colombian landscape.
The basement spaces of the exhibition introduce visitors to Olga de Amaral’s expansive exploration over the past five decades, from her early works in the 1960s to her most recent creations. By freeing her pieces from the confines of the wall, the curatorial decision creates an immersive experience, allowing visitors to fully appreciate the elaborately intricate textures and the dynamic interplay between the threads, light and physical space. Upon closer inspection, her works reveal meticulous research into the multiplicity within a single entity, exploring endless variations of material and form.
De Amaral’s experimental approach engages with materials, composition and geometry. Her complex weaving structures incorporate woven strips of various colors, thicknesses, and materials—alternating wool, linen, horsehair, and even plastic threads. This experimentation allows her to transcend the flatness of traditional tapestries, creating volumes and surfaces that explore endless combinations and new visual codes. For instance, the Entrelazados (Interlaced) series intertwines strips of differing colors and textures, while works like Elementos rojo en fuego (Red Elements on Fire) combine wool and horsehair, and Luz Blanca features woven plastic strips that are braided, coiled or knotted.
The artist writes in the exhibition catalog: “As I build surfaces, I create spaces of meditation, contemplation and reflection. Every small unit that forms the surface is not only significant in itself but also deeply resonant with the whole. Likewise, the whole is deeply resonant of each individual element.”
Floating freely, Olga de Amaral’s textile works trace their architecture and circular forms as the threads intertwine, giving viewers a glimpse of the broader conceptual explorations she embeds in them—one that transcends materiality and highlights the potential role of textiles as a bridge between earth, human creativity, and the cosmic order. Her weaving process is almost ritualistic, connecting deeply with ancestral traditions and symbolism while incorporating contemporary influences, such as her Bauhaus studies. It’s no surprise that many of her works feel rooted in pre-Columbian tradition, referencing sacred geometries and compositions reminiscent of feather art. For instance, Encalado en la azul (Whitewashed in Lime and Blue Lacquer) features purple and orange rectangular strips sewn together, painted in turquoise with a dense, irregular pattern on a woven cotton base.
De Amaral’s works elevate textiles into a three-dimensional space, as seen in her Lienzos ceremoniales (Ceremonial Cloths), where gold leaf interacts with light, resonating with the spiritual energy of Pre-Columbian Inca artifacts. This transcendence is also evident in the Estelas (Stars/Stelae) series from 1955, where gilded woven cotton structures are reassembled into monumental totems or menhirs. By applying layers of gesso, acrylic paint and gold leaf, she transforms these textiles into evocative forms reminiscent of the funerary and votive sculptures found at Pre-Columbian archaeological sites, unlocking secrets of the universe within their woven forms.
Olga de Amaral’s exploration of light, both in and emanating from her materials, is central to her practice. Her golden surfaces radiate a brilliance reminiscent of sacred pre-Columbian gold craftsmanship or astronomical phenomena, inviting contemplation of the energies that shape life in the universe. In parallel, other work mirrors and evokes the relationship between tecnè (craftsmanship) and nature, creating mystical landscapes or natural sensations through powerful material metaphors.
The immersive installation on the upper floor presents both earthy and ethereal works, transforming textiles into organic forms like rocks, lianas or the lightness of fog and moisture. For example, in her Brumas (Mists) series from 2013, suspended, coated threads transition from flat to three-dimensional forms, resembling fine rain. These colorful geometric shapes interact with the surrounding glass walls and the greenery outside, poetically reflecting the elements of air and
The exhibition at Fondation Cartier successfully showcases one of the most significant aspects of de Amaral’s practice—her ability to root her work in ancient traditions and spiritual connections with nature, while transcending cultural boundaries. Her exploration of textiles reflects these materials’ ceremonial, historical and symbolic significance across cultures, grounding her creations in the earth and linking them to the natural world.
The shared etymology of “text” and “textiles” from the Latin texere (meaning both weaving and telling) further deepens the resonance of her work, aligning with the Inca’s use of knotted cords as a system for recording information. Through her practice, de Amaral reawakens textiles as a universal language, one that transcends cultural specificity and continues to evolve. As her work demonstrates, textiles are a language that speaks of time, place, and human existence, capable of endlessly unfolding and expanding as it leaves the loom.
“Olga De Amaral” at Fondation Cartier, Paris, is on view through March 16, 2025.
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Elisa Carollo
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