THE ARTIST

Marked by a mental illness, in which the unease of existence has accompanied her relentlessly since her childhood. Monica Londono M. has developed her work based on constant observation of Nature. In that vast natural surroundings, she found in the trees a refuge for her ache.

Weaving, intertwining, and creating forms alluding to Nature has been the path she has followed with the purpose of not being a burden to her surroundings. She has been practicing the craft of weaving continuously since 1986.

The entirety of the artist’s work is the result of a systematic investigation of the life of trees, the roots that stubbornly emerge, and some different Nature’s patterns. The roots of trees work together with the mycelium of fungi, which penetrates and wraps around the cells of the roots; from this symbiosis, both benefit by expanding their communication and nutrient exchange.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

In the midst of my mental darkness, what has rescued me is Nature, the common thread throughout all my work. I make textile sculptures showcasing its varied and abundant forms, textures, fractals, and some of its grand expressions.

I practice simple and ancestral techniques, mostly using plant-based materials crafted by rural women, like dyed fique, plantain fiber, cumare palm, and jute. The result of merging plant fibers with metals, and the contrast between the two materials, isn’t exact or precise; it’s more accidental and unrigorous. This is because the fibers, being light, give way and move freely, so the relationship between form and material often turns out to be fortuitous.

TRAYECTORY

Monica Londoño M. was born in 1962 in Manizales, Colombia.

She studied textile design with an emphasis on art at “TALLER CINCO CENTRO DE DISEÑO” in Bogotá. There, in this educational center in the arts, she became acquainted with the world references of contemporary textile art: Magdalena Abakanowicz, Christo Javacheff, Sheila Hicks, Eva Hesse, and others.

In search of fibers and techniques, she immersed herself in a world of rural women who are heads of their households, where weaving is the basic support of their economy, enriching her work with their ancestral methods of cultivation, dyeing, spinning, and weaving.

To this day, several of her creations are held in private collections in various countries, such as: Germany · USA · Norway · Italy · Portugal · El Salvador · Colombia · Chile