Henar Iglesias

Featherworker

©Adriana Mateos

©Adrián Cristóbal

Keeping feathers in the family

Henar is influenced by pre-Colombian designs and featherwork
She wants to publish a 'bible' of featherwork techniques
She opened her own workshop in 2010

Henar Iglesias’ mother is a milliner and introduced her daughter to the world of craftsmanship from a very young age. When Henar was eight, they went to the closing down sale of the last local featherworking studio. Her mother was distraught at the thought there would be no more featherworkers in Madrid. Though she joined her mother’s workshop at 14, Henar later headed to university to study mathematics. Yet, she continued her millinery alongside her studies, specialising in featherwork. She further developed her work by working for a French interior designer for 12 years, integrating featherwork into furniture designs. Finally, she opened her own studio, dedicated to interior decoration and design with feathers.

Interview

©Adrián Cristóbal

©El Mundo

How did your work with feathers evolve?: I have my mother to thank for my early beginnings. When I started working on mosaics as a milliner, I was limited by the fact that headwear is voluminous. It was the collaboration with the French interior decorating lady that allowed me to advance and develop the mosaic technique further.
How do tradition and innovation combine in your work?: You are nothing without previous works. I understand everything as a continuum. The piece that I have just presented is a pre-Colombian technique: wax on paper. I have interpreted my savoir-faire for it, as I do not have their ancient skills. Innovation really comes from the need to adapt something.
Do you use any feathers in particular?: I try to work with locally sourced feathers. My goal is to avoid feathers from distant sources, which is the majority of what is sold. And if I can avoid hunters, that is even better.
What would you say is a central feature of your work?: The technique that I specialise in is that of the mosaic, which generates volumes. I make bas-reliefs, creating form. In Paris, I showed skulls of feathered animals, again adding new shapes. Pre-Colombian art is very flat, but I have given it a fuller form.

Henar Iglesias is a master artisan: she began her career in 1995 and she started teaching in 2000