Valeria Maldonado Morales
Gentle Structures: Making Space Through Textiles
Gentle Structures: Making Space Through Textiles is a series of textile sculptures exploring the connection between our physical and psychological landscapes. My sculptures are containers that reflect growth and the inevitable passage of time. The vessel-like shapes symbolize containment and habitation and are inspired by the spaces we inhabit through time, from the womb to the cave, from the hut to the tent and, finally, to the vessel that will hold our remains. In shaping space and crafting environments, I employ textile media and techniques like weaving, basketry, sprang, and coiling to encourage the contemplation of life.
As a woman capable of creating space within my body and an architect capable of designing space, I’m fascinated by the inhabitation of space throughout history. As a textile artist, I’m intrigued by the historical reliance on fibers, which underscores humanity’s need to create space for survival from these materials. As a Peruvian, I am forever drawn by the coastal landscapes of my native Lima, where ocean and caves dance alongside the city, inspiring my reflections around water and rock as primary elements of life. After all, we are born from water and turn into dust.
From these reflections questions arise: What does it truly mean to inhabit space? How have physical environments shaped humanity, and what role have textiles played in their creation? How do these environments, with their reliance on natural elements, shape our homes and the landscapes of our psychology? How do structure and flexibility serve as anchors for both sound buildings and healthy minds?
To answer these existential questions, I explore the built environment as a mirror of psychological landscapes, often presenting dualities in shapes, materials, and opacity to convey a sense of a grounding element—security—and an open, flexible one—acceptance.
