Fading Luminescent Corals

Technique: Textile Sculpture
Approximate dimensions: 140 cm x 120 cm
Materials: wool, acrylic, polyester and polyamide yarns, 100% recycled polyester padding, metallic upcycling rings and led Lights
Year: 2024

“Fading Luminescent Corals” is a textile sculpture, inspired in the natural luminescent corals. With orange and coral tones that represent the living corals, the grey parts are representing the dying corals in nature. These corals have natural luminescent and they are found at greater depth in the oceans. Also represents an important warning about the human presence and destruction that we represent for planet Earth and other living beings. It belongs to the series “Things from Nature”, a general theme that connects my textiles sculptures since 2016. This series represents an artistic representation of natural elements of sea and land, seen through a magnifying glass and reinterpreted through textile techniques, in a way that we become more alert about the destruction of nature. Although the crochet and knitting techniques are very traditional, the way they are applied results in an initial surprise in which there is a confrontation between the tradition present in the techniques and the innovation of form, aesthetics, textures and colour – and in this clash, the pieces build a dialogue with those who see, touch and feel them.
The yarns are carefully chosen, in old shops, remains of guarded collections and places that I passed by in my journeys. They are then combined according to colours, textures and thickness to obtain a result of great contrast or a more harmonious tone on tone, in accordance with the inspiration of natural elements. The yarns are used like a pencil or a pen in the space through the artisanal technique of crochet and knitting - quite time consuming, as the most complex yarns and those with loose threads have to be calmly untwisted while I make the loop, to get the best visual and volumetric effect. In the final piece, they are joined by a crochet loop, in a radial system – from the centre to the outer limit. This technique makes it possible to create, with a mixture of different yarns and according to the size and the desired result, contrasting and visually rich textures - getting closer to natural textures, creating sensations that provoke pleasure, especially in two senses - sight and touch.
Also is a perfect joy to transform the thread in such different forms and shapes.
I’ve made “Fading Luminescent Corals” in 2024, by searching for images of natural luminescent corals and destroyed corals. Then I choose the colour pallet of the yarns, the general form, the structure, the dimension, the shape and the volumes. Started the crochet process and after the general composition, the shape and volumes are ready, I’ve started to unit all of the small pieces and finalize the details. Then I’ve united the rings of the metal structure and finished the back part of the sculpture, drawing the outer line of the piece and hand sewing the front part to the metal structure. I install the LED lights on the back creating a maze with the 3 LED strips through the metal rings. I used a recycled polyester net to close the back part for allowing the art piece do not over heat and also allowing some light to be reflected on the wall, when it’s hanged. The red light accentuates the orange and coral tones of the yarns and the textures obtained when manipulating the yarns through crochet technique.