Vanessa Valero

Tapestry maker

©Vanessa Valero

Mountains for the walls

Vanessa makes large-scale hand-tufted tapestries of landscapes
Her future projects include explorations in free motion embroidery and ink creations
She taught a Pattern Lab and Collections course at Universidad de Los Andes

Colour-filled landscapes emerge from a layering of patterns in Vanessa Valero's hand-tufted tapestries. She graduated as a designer from Los Andes University in 2010, with a major in graphic design. She made a pivotal move to craft through a master's degree in textile art from Aalto University. Vanessa’s work expresses the creative void that bridges the cosmic vastness and the microcosmic world – or the collision of micro and macro perspectives. Her restless nature to explore and innovate has driven her to experience breath-taking settings and ecosystems, particularly in Colombia and the Nordic countries, which she materializes into interpretations of colour, light and texture through tufting, free motion embroidery and hand painting.

Interview

©Vanessa Valero

©Vanessa Valero

How did you come to textile art?: I grew up with a creative influence in my family. My first encounter with this craft was perhaps through a Dutch school teacher who taught me how to knit and weave on the loom at a very early age. However, it was during my university studies that I discovered textile design.
What were your early explorations with tapestry and textile art?: My thesis was inspired by topographical maps which represent reliefs and geographical formations through contoured lines, patterns, layer colouring and landform shading. This was also the basis of my textile design for my first duvet cover. The optical effect of a contoured body beneath transformed it into an impactful 3D visual.
What are the key elements in your creative process?: I have created an innovative methodology in which colour palettes are combined through layered patterns. I visualize and interpret through these. This approach is the result of my non-conforming with monochromatic designs and repetition. My tapestries are also a reflection of my uprootedness and need for exploration.
Can you recall a turning point in your craft career?: In 2014, I learned hand-tufting during a seven-month apprenticeship and master’s thesis under Sigrun Lara Shanko in Iceland – a pivotal setting that launched my career. The following year, my design was selected in a competition for a collaboration between the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and Desso carpet manufacturer to create a centrepiece for the museum’s central hall.

Vanessa Valero is a rising star: she began her career in 2016 and she started teaching in 2016