“Weaving linen and cotton together creates the perfect surface: a clay-like cloth that is the basis of the strips which are, in turn, the cornerstone of my work . I have always thought about them as a way of making the thin, elemental thread, much larger and more visible. From these strips I develop my first rectangular, perfectly proportioned, fundamental units. These woven fragments are the “words” I use to begin creating landscapes of surfaces, textures, emotions, memories, meanings and connections.”
“I have to take these strands and weave them together again and again into larger pieces—to reach a recondite understanding. As I build these surfaces, I create spaces of meditation, contemplation and reflection. Every small unit that forms the surface is not only significant in itself, but it is also deeply resonant of the whole. Likewise, the whole is deeply resonant of each individual element.”
“Color is a language common to all cultures.”
“Weaving inherently deals with front and back, between the visible and the concealed surfaces, between outside and inside… In most of my work I used this unacknowledged side to experiment. I felt less pressure about concluding ideas or perfecting finishes; this hidden side is freer, more unknown, more open-ended.”
–Olga De Amaral, excerpt from The House of my Imagination, http://www.olgadeamaral.com/files/OA_2003-The%20House_of_my_Imagination_(New_York).pdf