Peruvian Artist ‘Paints’ with All Kinds of Yarn

While traditional artists use a brush and paint to create their artworks, Ana Teresa Barboza uses embroidery, yarn, and wool to create landscapes and other stunning works of art. It comes as no surprise that Ana Teresa Barboza’s artworks are making waves on the internet.

Born in Lima, Peru, this exceptional textile artist studied painting at the Faculty of Art at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru in Lima, Peru. The six years she spent here helped her imbibe modernist principles of line, color, and composition. Artists like Annette Messager, Ghada Amer, Louis Bourgeois, Tracy Emin, and a few others inspired her.

Although Barboza started out as an artist, she also started designing clothes on the side for some extra income. It was here that she fell in love with fabrics. In an interview given to textileartist.com, she said, “Working with my hands, it’s something I’ve always done since childhood…and the incredible images that textiles can produce. I feel the fabric gives familiarity to the image, it pulls you in to stop and admire the details.” Today, Ana Teresa Barboza bordados (embroidery in Spanish) has become the talk of the town.

Ana Teresa Barboza techniques, such as mixing tissue with embroidery or drawing with embroidery or photography are what makes the works so alluring. For this, she uses all kinds of yarns that include fabrics, animal, synthetic, threads, wool, and vegetable fibers.

Ana Teresa Barboza weaving also makes the works stand out, where she produces images with embroidery and knitting and mixes them with drawings. Although the work is by no means easy, she likes manual work and loves to use her hands to transform different materials.

Ana Teresa Barboza collections can be seen in many individual expositions and collective exhibitions. Barboza also designs clothing and accessories for many companies. She is also a recipient of many awards and honors.