Red Corals Reef

Technique: Textile sculpture – needle work of crochet and knitting
95x80x15cm High (approximate); weight: 6kg (approximate)
Wool, polyester, acrylic, polyamide yarns, upcycled metal loops (for the internal structure)

Red Corals Reef is a tactile textile wall sculpture—an invitation to see with the hands and feel with the heart. Inspired by Corallium rubrum, the endangered red coral of the Mediterranean and Atlantic, this piece pays homage to a vanishing marine forest by reimagining its delicate forms in fiber.
Red coral, a protected species in Portugal since 2021, once adorned jewelry boxes but now clings to survival. Found at depths between 10 and 200 metres, its arborescent colonies grow slowly, sometimes living for over a hundred years. This sculpture echoes their branching beauty—not through extraction, but through transformation.
In mythology, coral is steeped in wonder. It was born, the Greeks said, from Medusa’s blood, turning to stone as it touched the sea. Romans believed it guarded children and healed venomous wounds. These stories remind us that coral has always stirred awe—not just for its colour or form, but for its spirit.
Here, coral is reborn in soft textiles—stitched, knotted, and layered by hand. Visitors are invited to touch, to explore with their fingers the textures and rhythms of the sea without harm. This wall piece becomes both a sensory landscape and a quiet act of resistance against loss.
By translating the coral’s presence into cloth, Red Corals becomes a space of connection. It asks: can we admire without possessing? Can we remember without wounding? Through touch, this sculpture tells us yes—and offers the enduring beauty of nature not taken, but honoured.