Mariana Piñar Castellano
- City
- Granada
- Country
- Spain
My name is Mariana Piñar Castellano, and I am a textile artist and educator. I hold a degree in Fine Arts from the University of Granada (Spain) and an MFA in Fiber Arts from Cranbrook Academy of Art (USA). My practice is rooted in a deep commitment to material exploration and technical skill, primarily developed in my home studio. I am passionate about textile processes and their potential for both functional and expressive outcomes. I am particularly interested in the poetic and metaphorical dimensions of working with textile materials and techniques, and how these processes can evoke emotional and conceptual narratives. What drives my work is the ongoing dialogue between tradition and experimentation, and the meaningful connection that arises from making by hand.
My primary craft is weaving, which I have practiced for the past ten years. I also work with dyeing—using both natural and synthetic processes—as well as printing techniques and embroidery. My interest in textile crafts began in childhood, taught and nurtured by my mother. Weaving remains central to my practice due to its structural logic, tactile quality, and meditative pace. However, I continuously explore other techniques to expand my visual language. I am especially drawn to processes that allow for experimentation and material transformation, and I value the depth and complexity that emerge when different techniques intersect.
Artworks
This piece is part of a series of four weavings made on my floor loom. It combines as well warp painting with embroidery. In this series, I explore the nuances of language—how meaning shifts across translation, how messages can be misinterpreted, and how something is always gained or lost in the process of navigating between languages.
This jacket was made using a no-waste pattern cut from a single piece of handwoven fabric created on my floor loom. It combines leftover yarns from cones I had in my studio during the COVID-19 pandemic. The design emerged from a desire to use each color to its fullest, as a mindful response to material limitations and as a meditative process to cope with the uncertainty of that time.
This piece is part of a series of three works in which I combine handweaving and warp dyeing to explore color vibration, the fading between tones, and the subtle disappearance of the weft—almost invisible—as the dyed warp takes center stage and becomes the visual and conceptual protagonist.
This piece is a chair co-designed with Kelly Begiazi and Materea Industries as part of the WORTH II Partnership Project. It reflects the values of the New European Bauhaus—beautiful, sustainable, together. Made with CNC cutting and kerfing, it can be woven by the user with cords of their choice. The chair was exhibited at Milan Design Week in April 2023.