Vanessa Barragão produces textile products by utilizing wasted yarns salvaged from the industry.

 

Portugal-based textile artist Vanessa Barragão creates three-dimensional textile art inspired by the map of the world. Using a range of techniques including latch hooking, felt needling, carving, crochet, Barragão mapped out and built up a textural surface that emulates the world. The deserts of Australia and Africa are conveyed in warm, low-pile colors, whereas Barragão represented the lush rainforests of South America and the high peaks of central Asia with shaggy deep greens and coiling crocheted ridges.

Barragão spent 520 hours on the piece, which is completely handcrafted and spans nearly 20 feet wide.

“I always look for wasted materials to create my artworks and try to show my mindset to others when I create a piece, and for me it’s super important to create an artwork that transmits the vision of the artist.” Vanessa explaines “Each piece I create is indeed a part of me. And it’s so rewarding to create something with the waste.. you have to adapt your creations to what you encounter.”

When she was asked what it means to be an artist today this was her answer “I believe that an artist is indeed a voice so it means that he/she needs to be sensitive about the present hazards of our world, being the environmental one the main issue because if it isn’t fixed, a bunch of other problems of social, political and economical nature will arise with immense gravity. One must expose and act in an attempt to raise awareness among an ever-growing crowd so that hopefully that same issue is properly tackled continuously to achieve the balance that our planet demands. In the end, I truly think that an artist needs to be capable of uniting people towards a common goal”.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B0BLiRdAJhy/

You can shop Barragão’s nature-inspired textiles on Etsy, and view more of work on her Instagram and Behance.