The art of dancing with your hands
- Natalia’s passion for textile arts comes from her family legacy
- She specialised in hand embroidery at the traditional École Lesage in Paris
- Her fashion projects and artistic pieces are odes to the beauty of her craft
Natalia Rios' life has been infused with handmade work and textile arts ever since she can remember. “From a very young age, I was inspired by the daily routine of my mother and aunt, former owners of a knitting workshop in Brazil,” she explains. Natalia studied fashion and interior design at university and later left for Paris to learn embroidery from the very best embroiderers at École Lesage. “There I practised the most diverse manual embroidery techniques for high-fashion brands,” she recalls. Returning to Brazil, she opened not only her own embroidery workshop but also a school to transmit her skills. Today, Natalia collaborates with several luxury labels from Brazil and abroad. Her personal artistic pieces are exhibited in prestigious venues, such as at Révélations Biennial in Paris.
Interview
- How does Brazil feature in your embroidery work?
- I am inspired by Brazilian culture and try to merge it with embroidery heritage from other countries. In specific projects I use raw and natural materials from different regions in Brazil, such as seeds and plants, which gives identity and meaning to the piece.
- Is it possible to bring innovation to such a traditional craft?
- I believe so, by searching new ways of creation and adapting materials to solve technical challenges. I also developed new methods to teach hand-embroidery, combining digital technology with traditional materials and techniques.
- What inspired you to focus on hand embroidery?
- After many years working with different crafts, as soon as I started practising hand embroidery I felt that everything made sense, as if my body, mind and soul were all aligned. Beyond know-how and technique, my work is about sharing my feelings and my soul.
- What would be a good way to define embroidery to a young audience?
- Embroidery is the art of dancing with your hands. It is understanding the time, the movement, the techniques, but most of all, it is feeling free to create and give your soul to the craft. It requires patience, and the process must be respected and adapted to your own creation.
Natalia Rios is a master artisan: she began her career in 2015 and she started teaching in 2017
Where
Natalia Rios
