Artist Uses Textile Waste to Create Beautiful Ocean Inspired Tapestry

By
Anna Brown
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Portuguese artist Vanessa Barragão creates gorgeous tapestry using techniques like felt, crochet, knitting, latch hook, and macrame. Her artwork is mostly inspired by the ocean and contains underwater motives like coral reefs, underwater plants, and animals.

Barragão got a Masters degree at the University of Lisbon and in 2014 she opened her studio and started creating tapestries, keeping this dying art form alive. She currently lives in Porto, the country’s textile industry capital. Besides running her own studio, she also works as a textile designer in an artisanal rug factory.

See her beautiful tapestries below.

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The textile industry is one of the most polluting in the world. In almost every process chemicals are used, especially when it comes to the fibers treatment and dyeing. All the machinery used requires tons of energy while producing a lot of waste and disposable trash. It is extremely harmful for our world and it affects all of its different natural environments, particularly the ocean which absorbs 90% of the atmospheric pollution, warming itself up to the point that so many species get threatened.  Coral reefs, which sustain so many other creatures, is one of the most endangered. Vanessa believes in an upcycling effort towards the right way to fight against the kind of negative mindset described above. All of the materials used come from the dead-stock from several local factories which is first cleaned and then selected to recycle and reuse in her projects. Her production is completely artisanal and handmade by using ancestral techniques, like latch hook, felt, knitting, macrame and crochet, to create her artworks inspired by the coral reefs. 🐚 you can se3 the FULLMOON piece this week at Veoveo stand in Habitat Valencia, in Spain 🐚 . #bleachedcoral #coralreef #creativelife #rugdesign #rug #textileart #textileartist #textiledesign #textile #coralreef #fiber #fiberartists #fiberart #abmcrafty #makersmovement #textile #latchhook #textiledesign #textileart #textiledesigner #textileartist #wool #wallhanging #rug #tapestry #weaversofinstagram #woventapestry #wovenwallart #makersgonnamake #makersmovement #handmade #handcraft #surfacedesign #wovenwallhanging #craftposure #fiber #fiberart #fiberartists #abmcrafty #cylcollective #creativelife #coralreef #bleachedcoral @textileoftheday #textileoftheday #handcraft

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The tuft is almost complete! Next step: start the sculptural part 🐚 my favorite one!! This piece is a part of my first art instalation called "Coral's Garden", which I will present in January of 2019! This art intalation will be composed by a rug (this piece) and more 2 tapestries, which I will show on next weeks 😀 . . . #bleachedcoral #coralreef #creativelife #rugdesign #rug #textileart #textileartist #textiledesign #textile #coralreef #fiber #fiberartists #fiberart #abmcrafty #makersmovement #textile #latchhook #textiledesign #textileart #textiledesigner #textileartist #wool #wallhanging #rug #tapestry #weaversofinstagram #woventapestry #wovenwallart #makersgonnamake #makersmovement #handmade #handcraft #surfacedesign #wovenwallhanging #craftposure #fiber #fiberart #fiberartists #abmcrafty #cylcollective #creativelife #coralreef #bleachedcoral @textileoftheday #textileoftheday #handcraft

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"The Coral Graden" art installation is almost complete! This project will be ehxibited in the beginning of the new year at Domotex fair in Hannover! 🐚 . . #bleachedcoral #coralreef #creativelife #rugdesign #rug #textileart #textileartist #textiledesign #textile #coralreef #fiber #fiberartists #fiberart #abmcrafty #makersmovement #textile #latchhook #textiledesign #textileart #textiledesigner #textileartist #wool #wallhanging #rug #tapestry #weaversofinstagram #woventapestry #wovenwallart #makersgonnamake #makersmovement #handmade #handcraft #surfacedesign #wovenwallhanging #craftposure #fiber #fiberart #fiberartists #abmcrafty #cylcollective #creativelife #coralreef #bleachedcoral @textileoftheday #textileoftheday #handcraft

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