“The first condition of the artist is the identification with the material that he/she works” (Walter Gropius)
The Bauhaus lesson is what always guided me. Even considering myself as a painter, I experimented with all kind of materials — ceramic, etching, sculpture, enameling and others. When I finally arrived at tapestry in general, and Gobelin technique in particular, there was no longer any doubt or searching left for me: I felt a magical combination of relaxing the atmosphere, absorbing light, calming the environment and making the spirit rest, through this technique. Using Gobelin I was able to more powerfully express the message I wanted in my tapestries (for there is always a message) and “feel” the material I was working with.
Gobelin technique (established in the 15th century) is quite a strict and severe one. I had the immense luck to have Prof. Ernesto Aroztegui as a teacher. He himself was an autodidact and transmitted to me the direction of developing and applying creativity in parallel to the technique.
The same way I didn’t use pure colors when I painted, in weaving I build the desired colors by undoing the strands and mixing them with other shredded strands. The color I choose in my work is in according to the emotions that the topic demands.
Despite the today’s new techniques and use of different materials developed in the art of weaving through the last 50 years, I believe that the Gobelin tapestry continues to be important and relevant. While open to innovation it maintains a traditional warm atmosphere.
Proof is the huge quantity of extraordinary and famous Gobelin workshops all over the world, and the splendid examples of Gobelin tapestries. These tapestries, linked to a figurative or abstract design and a manual mastery of the technique, fill the rooms of the most important museums in the world among them the Louvre, the Hermitage, and Museums of modern design such as Moma in New York City.