Natividad Amador

Pinthila. Nombre de 'pintura' y 'hila'.
Pinthila. A contraction of 'painting' and 'thread'.

That's the description Nativdad Amador gives her medium. From the brochure for the show...." Nativdad studied fine art at the Autonomous University of Oaxaca. At the end of this process, in which she produced graphics and paintings in the fashion of the Oaxacan Painting School, she still had a big concern: "my painting is missing something" she said. With that deliberation she went back to her homeland, Juchitan, and she proposed to focus on the uniqueness of her culture and then assimilate it. She found what she was looking for in the typical Isthmus textiles in it's chain stitch embroidery; also known as 'tejido' (weaving)."


Natividad wanted to work with the people she considered the masters, either because they were her tutors or because she deeply admires their accomplishments. The translated the work, paintings, of those artists. Some of the work is directly translated from a painting, other piecs are a collaboration, with Natividad working in the artists studio to resolve the piece.  In other cases, the artists gave her a 'sketch' and let Natividad freely make the piece.  The other artists included in the show are Alejandr Santiago, Arnulfo Mendoza, Demian Flores, Eddie Martinez, Francisco Toledo, Gabriel Macatela, Gilberto Aceves Naavarro, Jose Villalobos, Juan Alcazar, Luis Zarate, Miguel Angel Charis and Victor Chaca.

All the pieces shown here are stitched by hand.  The cloth is totally covered with stitches.  Most of the pieces are about 25" x 30".  I think there must have been more than 30 pieces, and here are just a few pieces from the show.

When I look at the texture in the stitching, I'm amazed at how she creates that illusion.  It's all about changing the direction of the stitches.  Just covering a piece of cloth with stitches alone would not deliver the same results. 


 While I walked through the gallery that first day, mouth hanging open in awe, I fell in love with a few pieces...more attraction to some pieces than to others, and it was because of the composition.  All the works showed great technical expertise, and successful compositions (imho!)  This piece really caught my eye, I think because of the subtle color choices.  Below is a detail photo.  To get some of the subtle colors needed, Natividad used two threads at a time.  A great, old masters trick with paint; and technically very difficult to stitch.

Next post, I'll tell how the stitch is formed, and post a few pics from the class...