Mexican artist Miriam Medrez began her artistic career working with ceramics. Twenty years later she discovered textiles and has never looked back.  Her varied work uses a range of techniques and materials and explores themes including the human body and nature. 

Firstly, where did you grow up and where do you live now? 

I was born in Mexico City, Mexico. I spent time of my childhood there and studied part of my degree in UNAM. 

What is your background in textiles?

I began studying my degree in Montreal, Canadá at Concordia University and then I finished my degree in Mexico City at UNAM. I finished as a visual artist. The first 20 years I dedicated my work to sculptures in ceramics until 2010, then by a fortunate accident I decided to work with textiles so that’s when I started my exploration and investigation and began doing it by myself. 

What is it about textiles as an art form that appeals to you? 

Textiles for me are freedom and mending with materials. Textiles gives me the opportunity of searching in different teams that I liked and I explored and I continue exploring. 

How do you describe your work? 

I work throughout my years of working with sculpture and the body and specially the women’s body have been my interest, so I’ve worked with many series related to the body , I’m going to mention some of the series that the main theme is that, like “Talla 0” (Size 0), “Tejidos invertidos”, “Zurciendo” , “Lo que tus ojos no alcanzan a ver” and “Resonancia onírica”, as many others. 

I have also worked with the abstraction of nature and how nature has an influence in our daily life. I’ve worked with fractals and repetition and the geometry of nature that we cannot perceive. 

During the pandemic, I made two videos, so basically I’m in a constant search of different aspects that I’m worried about and award them. Working with textiles has given me the opportunity of working with poets and musicians. 

Your work is very varied. Are there certain techniques more than others? 
Depending on the project I decide which materials I’m going to use. 

How do you create a piece?

Sometimes I sketch, other times I make samples. In my work there’s a lot of tiral and error. Trying different materials and ways that talk to me and talk to others. 

Where do you work? 

I have my own studio in Monterey, San Pedro Garza García, Mexico. 

I know this is a hard question but how long does a bigger piece take? 

I’ve never measured time with my work, I prefer to take all the time needed for it. 

What are you most proud of in your art career so far? 

I’m proud to have the need of searching and creating in the world of textiles. 

Do you have any advice for aspiring textile artists? 

My first advice is never stay where you are and think outside of the box, create new problems for your work so you can solve them, study a lot and look into other artists’ work. 

Where can people see your work?

In September I’m going to have a very large exhibition in the City of Matamoros, in the state of Tamaulipas. It is going to show a lot of my artworks from my artistic career.

www.miriammedrez.com

https://www.instagram.com/miriammedrez/