Biography
Diamantina Palacios’s textile research began in Colombia, where she studied Textile Design at Universidad de los Andes. Through fieldwork among Indigenous communities, she discovered textiles as a practice rooted in place and in the transmission of knowledge. After completing her studies, she taught at the Italian School of Bogotá and at the Arturo Tejada Cano School of Fashion and Costume.
In 1986, she moved to Florence to further develop her weaving practice at the Porta Romana Institute of Art. This was followed by twenty years in museum textile conservation, working closely with antique tapestries, textiles and carpets. In 2006, she opened her own studio, bringing together the experience she had gained between Colombia and Italy with research into natural dyes conducted alongside the CNR and the University of Florence.
Colour is the starting point of her work. It is not added at the end as decoration, but guides the form, the choice of fibres and the technique from the very beginning. Her scientific knowledge of dyeing and experience at the loom allow her to create surfaces in which colour, structure and material emerge together.
Technique & Process
An imagined hue gives shape to texture, design and material. For custom-made creations, she favours handloom weaving, working on eight-shaft looms with essential structures such as plain weave and twill, which allow the character of the yarns and the variations created by light to emerge.
Her choice of fibres is guided by the same care she devotes to colour. Colombian silk and alpaca from small-scale producers meet Italian wools and Tuscan cashmere, alongside certified linen, hemp and cotton. The irregularities of the yarns remain visible and become part of the design. In some works, copper wire runs through the weave, shaping it and catching the light, while gold leaf introduces a precious reflection.
The dyes come from roots, bark, flowers, fruit and leaves and are also applied to fabrics through resist printing. Although the process is carefully controlled, the natural characteristics of plants and fibres make every shade unique. For Diamantina, this variability is one of the most fascinating aspects of dyeing with plants.
The resulting works include woven wall pieces, lamps, curtains, textile panels, cushions and hammocks, in which the weave determines how colour, material and light enter the space.
her products
Collections
Fabric Walls
The fabric walls by Diamantina Palacios are born from the encounter between manual weaving, matter, and color. Threads, textures, and variations build surfaces that bring the mark of the artisanal gesture into space. These are textile artworks where every detail contributes to the rhythm and identity of the composition, transforming the wall into a tactile presence.
Textiles in Motion
Throws, cushions, and hammocks tell different stories of bringing textiles into space and everyday life. Fibers, color, and manual craftsmanship give shape to objects to be used, lived with, and interpreted freely. Each piece retains the character of the material and the variations typical of artisanal work.
Fabric Lamps
In Diamantina Palacios’s lamps, fabric meets light. The textile material filters and diffuses illumination, bringing out textures, transparencies, and subtle shades. Artisanal craftsmanship thus transforms the surface into a luminous, soft, and tactile presence.
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