Matriarchal Womb by Tanya Aguiñiga

This textile work layers materials and methods to express poignant metaphors about family and community. It is a homage to matrilineal support and the tender relationship between Aguiñiga and her daughter. Based on the outline of the two of them, huddled side by side, the work uses a variety of techniques, including off-loom weaving, knotting, crochet and knitting, as a metaphor for the interconnected non-hierarchical relationships within communities. Sections of the work have been dipped in self-drying terracotta, an important material to cultures of the global south, which forms a rigid but flexible skin around the fibres.