Ana Montoya
Colombia, *1978
Ana was born in Colombia in 1978, as the daughter of a ceramicist and an architect. She grew up in a rural environment in the heart of the Andes, where nature and art were a constant presence in her everyday life. After school, she studied anthropology and began working with indigenous communities in the Amazon on a project aimed at providing women with a steady income for their households through their crafts.
This experience has influenced her work. The way these communities interacted with nature and their textile work attracted them. This led Ana to explore the possibilities of looking at this craft from an artistic and ecological perspective. While studying textile art at Escola Massana in Barcelona, Ana gradually found a means of expression through weaving.
Through her work on the loom, Ana wanted to reconnect with nature and bring what we see in nature inside to remind us of the rhythms and cycles that we are no longer aware of due to our current way of life. Over time, she began using natural materials (acorn caps, seed pods, sea urchin bones and spines, silk cocoons, pine cones, etc.).
In parallel to her work on the loom, Ana began to explore the possibilities of collage. Nature represents a fascinating mix of perfection and irregularities.
"My work is an attempt to create a conversation between perfection and irregularities."