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© Mercedes Vicente
© Mercedes Vicente
© Mercedes Vicente
© Mercedes Vicente
© Mercedes Vicente

Mercedes Vicente

  • Fabric sculptor
  • Brión-A Coruña, Spain
  • Master Artisan
Mercedes Vicente Fabric sculptor
© Mercedes Vicente

The inventor with a flare for fabric

  • • Mercedes builds sculptures from strips of untreated canvas
  • • She must first prepare the material by gluing it together and priming it
  • • Her work is influenced by the French artist Pierre Huyghe

Born in Madrid in 1958, Mercedes Vicente’s family moved to various locations in Spain during her youth, an experience that pushed her to approach learning in a fundamentally self-taught manner. After first studying philosophy, Mercedes later dedicated herself to art. Initially her works were pictorial, before evolving into sculpture, with canvas as her primary medium. “When I started using this technique, I realised that people were amazed by such a manual process,” she says. “Then I started to think that what I was doing was within the realms of craftsmanship, art and design.” She chose fabric in part because it was easy to get hold of, since a member of her family worked in a factory producing canvas. However she also loved the elastic, organic, flexible and translucent properties of fabric.

Read the full interview

Works

  • © Mercedes Vicente
  • © Mercedes Vicente
  • © Mercedes Vicente
  • © Mercedes Vicente
  • © Mercedes Vicente
Photo: © Mercedes Vicente
Napía

Mercedes’ recent work has focused on investigating the possibilities of constantly developing spiral forms. This piece was inspired by shapes from nature, notably the structure of seashells, with particular attention being paid to the interior of the shell. Mercedes prepares the fabric then cuts it into bands which she then glues together, layering and rolling them into a logarithmic spiral. The rolled strips give the piece another dimension.

15 cm
15 cm
7 cm

Photo: © Mercedes Vicente
Discobula

Mercedes’ recent work has focused on investigating the possibilities of constantly developing spiral forms. This piece was inspired by shapes from nature, notably the structure of seashells, with particular attention being paid to the interior of the shell. Mercedes prepares the fabric then cuts it into bands which she then glues together, layering and rolling them into a logarithmic spiral. The rolled strips give the piece another dimension.

48 cm
48 cm
38 cm

Photo: © Mercedes Vicente
Cignus 2

Mercedes’ recent work has focused on investigating the possibilities of constantly developing spiral forms. This piece was inspired by shapes from nature, notably the structure of seashells, with particular attention being paid to the interior of the shell. Mercedes prepares the fabric then cuts it into bands which she then glues together, layering and rolling them into a logarithmic spiral. The rolled strips give the piece another dimension.

20 cm
50 cm
30 cm

Photo: © Mercedes Vicente
Scyliorhina

Mercedes’ recent work has focused on investigating the possibilities of constantly developing spiral forms. This piece was inspired by shapes from nature, notably the structure of seashells, with particular attention being paid to the interior of the shell. Mercedes prepares the fabric then cuts it into bands which she then glues together, layering and rolling them into a logarithmic spiral. The rolled strips give the piece another dimension.

15 cm
40 cm
10 cm

Photo: © Mercedes Vicente
Cresta

Mercedes’ recent work has focused on investigating the possibilities of constantly developing spiral forms. This piece was inspired by shapes from nature, notably the structure of seashells, with particular attention being paid to the interior of the shell. Mercedes prepares the fabric then cuts it into bands which she then glues together, layering and rolling them into a logarithmic spiral. The rolled strips give the piece another dimension.

cm
cm
cm

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