Kenia Almaraz Murillo

"She is an artist from Bolivia based in France. And her work has something that hasn't left my head for about two years now. She is presenting textile that is embroidered in the Bolivian part of the Andes matched with equipment from the automobile industry (which also feels like motorcycle, or VR, or gaming set). And also has quotes and texts from drivers of buses in Latin America. So I find Kenia's work really, really fascinating because it speaks to an idiosyncrasy that is also aware that it exists in a world with very technological precedents, expectations and aspirations. It has been extremely refreshing to engage with her work."

RECOMMENDED BY:
Daniel H. Rey

ABOUT

After moving to Paris from Santa Cruz de la Sierra at the age of 11, separated from her parents, Kenia progressed through the French education system, eventually learning the language and embracing her new environment. Returning to Bolivia to visit only years later as a teenager, an experience which overwhelmed her with sensory memories of her childhood, Kenia was transfixed by her mother’s aguayos, patterned woven cloths, which were cared for as family treasures. Kenia would discover her grandmother and great- grandmother were skilled weavers, and the aguayos took on new significance as physical memories of her ancestors, bearing the trace of their working hands; as their new guardian, Kenia would bring them with her on her return to France.

Rich in cultural reference and personal history, Kenia’s distinctive work explores familial legacies, Andean mythologies, and diasporic identity. Taught weaving in Paris by the nonagenarian textile artist Simone Prouvé, Kenia uses her practice to connect with the generations of weavers among the women in her family in Bolivia, and her large wall-based sculptures, hand-woven from her Paris studio, blend Andean tradition and references to modern Bolivian life with a unique diasporic perspective.

Kenia’s ambitious wall hangings are created with indigenous South American yarns, the surfaces of which are adorned with found urban objects, such as car reflectors and motorbike headlamps or items sourced from traditional Bolivian markets, lit with neon LED lights. In her new series, the artist introduces embroidered motifs from carnival costumes designed for the iconic Carnival of Oruro, in which pre-Columbian Andean deities and the Catholic Virgin del Socavón are venerated alongside one another in lively performances describing Bolivia’s resilience after histories of colonialism and slavery.

artist website

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