Ana Montoya

I was born in Colombia and grew up in a rural environment where nature and art were present in my everyday life. I studied anthropology and started working with indigenous communities in the Amazonian region in a project that aimed to provide women a steady income for their households through their crafts. My work has been influenced by this experience. The way these communities interacted with nature and their textile work attracted me. It impelled me to explore the possibilities of approaching this craft with an artistic and ecological perspective. During my studies of textile art at the Escola Massana in Barcelona I progressively found a space of expression in weaving. Through my work on the loom, I searched to reconnect with nature, and bring indoors what we regard in the outdoors, reminding us of the rhythms and cycles that our contemporary ways of life make us unaware of. With time, I began to use natural materials (acorn hats, seed pods, sea urchin bones and quills, silk cocoons, pinecones, etc) and, in parallel to my work in the loom, I started exploring the possibilities of collage. Nature presents itself as an intriguing blend of perfection and irregularities. My work is an attempt to create a conversation between these two trends.