Olga de Amaral is a Colombian textile and visual artist known for her large-scale abstract works made with fibers and covered in gold and/or silver leaf. Because of her ability to reconcile local concerns with international developments, de Amaral became one of the few artists from South America to become internationally known for her work in fiber during the 1960s and ‘70s. She is also considered an important practitioner in the development of postwar Latin American Abstraction. She currently lives and works in Bogotá, Colombia.
Olga de Amaral in Ubaté, Cundinamarca, Colombia, 1944.
Textile arts are arts and crafts that use plant, animal, or synthetic fibers to construct practical or decorative objects.
Textile arts in ancient Egypt
This portrait illustrates the practical, decorative, and social aspects of the textile arts. Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales by Robert Peake the Elder, 1610.
Persian Silk Brocade. Persian Textile (The Golden Yarns of Zari - Brocade). Silk Brocade with Golden Thread (Golabetoon). Pattern and Design: Paisley Left and Right (Bote Jeghe), With Main Repeating Motif (Persian Paisley).
Textile, painted silk, 45 × 291⁄2 in. (114.3 × 74.93 cm), Qing Dynasty, China, mid-18th century, LACMA textile collection