Olga de Amaral (b. 1932)

Born in Bogotá, Colombia, Olga de Amaral is a renowned artist whose technique, which incorporates fiber, paint, gesso and precious metals, transforms the two-dimensional textile structure into sculptural presences that seamlessly blend art, craft, and design. In their engagement with materials and processes, her works become essentially unclassifiable and self-reflexively authentic. Olga de Amaral studied fabric design at the prestigious Cranbrook Academy in Michigan. Her in-depth knowledge of textiles and weaving techniques from around the world provided a foundation for her complex artistic practice that transcends fixed genres and artistic disciplines.
At age 22, with a degree in architectural design, Olga de Amaral moved from Bogotá to the United States where she studied fiber art at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan. She returned to Colombia in 1955, and in 1956 she and her husband, Jim Amaral, opened a workshop of hand-woven textiles.
Her richly textured pieces evoke the varied natural landscapes of Colombia as well as ancient pre-Columbian gold artifacts. Through a meticulous layering of textured linen (often coated with paint and gold leaf), she creates intricate geometric compositions reminiscent of the architecture and roofs of Columbia.
Galleries and institutions worldwide have exhibited Amaral’s work, the full range of which is represented in the collections of over forty museums, including the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Japan, San Francisco’s De Young Museum, the Museum Bellerive in Zürich, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Renwick Gallery of the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. She currently lives and works in Bogotá, Colombia.