ARTIST STATEMENT
I explore memory and cultural heritage through hand embroidery, Andean cord-making, and the arpilleras technique. I investigate textiles as an archive of experiences where tradition, displacement, and transformation are interwoven.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
I am Javiera González Velásquez, also known as La Javi Textil, a Chilean visual artist based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
My artistic practice focuses on the theoretical and technical research of textile traditions from Indigenous peoples of South America, while also developing a personal visual language that uses embroidery as an artistic medium, alongside various textile techniques from my place of origin.
I primarily work with hand embroidery as a form of visual and material exploration, where repetition, time, and the manual gesture are essential. I am interested in textiles as a carrier of memory, where personal experiences, cultural heritage, and intergenerational knowledge are interwoven.
I have presented my work in museums, galleries, biennials, and cultural centers across Latin America and Europe, exploring the dialogue between traditional techniques and contemporary narratives.
I also lead and facilitate textile workshops, sharing knowledge inherited from my mother and grandmothers, understanding teaching as a space for the affective and collective transmission of skills and ancestral knowledge.
Deeply inspired by the Andean worldview and the creative possibilities revealed through astronomy, I explore the relationship between nature, cosmos, and textile memory.
Since 2022, I have been a member of Warmi Küyen, a feminist textile collective that promotes knowledge-sharing through care, respect, and the preservation of traditional crafts.
© Javiera González Velásquez