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Ana Teresa Barboza is a Peruvian artist that manipulates textile art techniques in order to

create detailed and fantastical landscapes. However, the interpretations of her works, like

Suspension I, cannot be pinpointed to a singular analysis. Some interpretations are better than

others because they are not limited to the intent of the artist in making the work; and some

interpretations are better than others precisely because they take into account the artists intent

(Barrett, 2002, p 225). As such, this essay will explore the multiple interpretations Barboza

offers within three distinct interviews and how her artwork fits within the larger sphere of the

artworld. While the primary function of criticism is to say what is good in a work, this essay will

also offer a description of the work in question as well as providing classification for appropriate

genres that the art belongs to (Carroll, 2009, p. 17).

Ana Teresa Barboza's Suspension I is a textile piece that combines fabric, yarn, and

embroidery in order to emulate the movement and rhythm of the sea. Barboza uses a variety of

cool toned thread to create the impression of churning waves that jut out and into the viewer's

space. The extra unused fabric cascades down behind the framing embroidery hoop and backs

the netted and tangled combination of yarn and thread that behinds from the lower portion of the

piece and stretches out to the floor far below. Barbozas utilization of these fibers helps to extend

the imagery of the embroidered sea beyond the limits of the hoop.

As artworks are rarely obvious, they often need to be interpreted in order to be

understood (Barrett, 2002, p. 199). Ana Teresa Barboza's Suspension I speaks to the human

relation to nature and how it can be transformed (Sophie, 2013). Barboza creates this parallel

between the complicated natural landscapes and her work by emphasizing the compact repetitive

embroidery techniques with large interlocking yarn forms. In an interview with Ana Teresa
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Barboza, she describes that the fabric in [Suspension I] aims to show what exists behind these

events, demonstrating the constant transformation, marking and recording the different changes

(Koel Magazine, 2016).

Barboza builds on the human-nature relationship by connecting the process of handcraft

to the process of nature. Suspension I combines embroidery and crocheting, two forms of textile

art that are viewed as natural techniques, to allow the viewer to draw closer to the natural forms

of the depicted landscapes (Sophie, 2013). Barboza relates her usage of textiles to nature by

mimicking the cellular structure of plant tissue to create a more natural and engaging appearance.

This process of knitting netted structures forces viewers to visually explore the extension of

nature into handmade and manipulated fibers (Sam, 2015). Barboza executes these techniques in

order to emphasize the manual work within Suspension I and create seamless transitions between

the artists hand and natural forms.

Another way to interpret this piece is that Suspension I is a simulation of an experiment

in the the reconstruction nature and revitalizing the way that viewers engage with art. As the

viewers observe the landscape Barboza has created, the depicted nature scene appears to

transform yet in a way that is not fully comprehensible (Koel Magazine, 2016). Barboza utilizes

textiles to continue what nature started, manipulating the landscape by extending the natural flow

and structure. (Sophie, 2013). This idea is assisted by the fact that embroidery and crocheting are

techniques that are incredibly time-intensive. By working in these tedious mediums, Suspension I

develops a sense of meticulousness and acute focus that draws the viewer closer to nature as

Barboza slowly reveals the changes she has made to the landscape (Koel Magazine, 2016).
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As we look into the categorization of Ana Teresa Barbozas artwork, some questions that

should be considered such as What is it a part of? Within what tradition does it belong? What

needs does it relieve? (Barrett, 2002, p 199). Barbozas artworks, like Suspension I, are very

complex and can fit within a multitude of different genres that cover a variety of themes. Some

of the possible genres that Barbozas work can fall down are feminine art, textile art,

contemporary art, and Peruvian art. However, these genres are also closely related and, at times,

may overlap with one another. Peruvian art is largely composed of textile art practices, such as

weaving and embroidery which is encompassed by feminine art as these weavers are often

women. At the same time, these feminine themes such as womens labor are often present in

contemporary art through critique and contemporary art may revitalize traditional Peruvian art

practices in a more modern context.

Ana Teresa Barbozas work can be described as belonging somewhere in between the

realms of textile art and feminine art; beginning by focusing on how her work fits within the

genre of textile art. Textile art is composed of different techniques that includes but is not limited

to: weaving, embroidery, knitting, crocheting, needlework, and sewing. Barboza works primarily

with a variety threads, wool, and fabrics in order to create images that combine the above textile

techniques, like embroidery and knitting, with more traditional techniques such as drawing and

photography. Barboza describes that she discovered that not all art was taught within formal art

education and that there were many empty fields that must be filled with the things artists are

personally interested in (Sam, 2015). Thus, Barboza began to fill her own unique niche that

utilized the combination of complicated textile art techniques with breathtaking depictions of

natural scenery.
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At the same time, the contemporary art scene began to see several artists, mostly women,

that were taking interest in utilizing textile art techniques within their own works (Koel

Magazine, 2016). In an interview with Ana Teresa Barboza, Barboza describes that she found

many other contemporary artists who use various techniques and different ways of thinking to

make art that is meaningful to them (Sam, 2015). Some of the other artists that could be

compared to Ana Teresa Barboza are women like Annette Messager, a French installation artist,

Ghada Amer, an Egyptian embroider, Tracey Emin, an English multimedia artist, and Louise

Bourgeois, a French-American sculpture and installation artist. It should not come as a surprise

that Barbozas work may reflect some of the thematic properties or techniques used by these

women as artists are usually aware of both the artists who preceded them and those they are

contemporary with (Barrett, 2002, p 218). At the same time that Barboza is able to identify with

fellow contemporary artists, she is able to define herself through unique manipulation of textile

techniques within her body of work.

Another possible genre that Ana Teresa Barbozas work can be described as is within the

context of traditional Peruvian art practices. In Peru, there is a long standing tradition of textiles

artwork that originated during the pre-Hispanics era that used the textile pieces in important roles

for different ceremonies (Koel Magazine, 2016). As of more recently, however, there has been a

resurgence of these textile skills in the different communities of Peru that were lost over time.

Barboza reflects that she learned how to sew, weave, and embroider through her grandmother,

establishing the link between traditional and contemporary Peruvian generations (Sophie, 2013).

Ana Teresa Barboza not only modernizes the traditional practices of Peruvian textile art within a
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contemporary art application, she draws attention to the reutilization of traditionally feminine

Peruvian craft making.

Criticism is, first and foremost, evaluative discourse supported by reasons (Carroll, 2009,

p. 15). Throughout this essay, Ana Teresa Barbozas Suspension I was interpreted based on the

visual description of the piece and supported by the contextualization of the artists personal

statements within interviews regarding her work. It goes without saying that at its most essential

components, art criticism directly involves evaluation, however, the recommendation and

evaluation may be implicit (Carroll, 2009, p. 21). In conclusion to this interpretive critique, it is

important that readers maintain an open mind when analysis artwork. Readers should not to

accept with finality the interpretations already given here and elsewhere but, rather, to engage

critically and to produce interpretations of their own (Barrett, 2002, p. 228).

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References

Barrett, T. (2002). Chapter 8: Principles for Interpreting. In Interpreting Art: Reflecting,

Wondering, Responding. McGraw-Hill Publishing. pp. 197-228.

Carroll, N. (2009). Introduction. In Criticism as evaluation. New York: Routledge. pp. 11 - 43.

Sam. (2015). Ana Teresa Barboza Handcraft and nature. Textile Artist.

http://www.textileartist.org/ana-teresa-barboza-handcraft-nature/. Retrieved March 29, 2017.

Sophie. (2013). The romantic embroidery of Ana Teresa Barboza Gubo. Le Fil Conducteur.

https://lefilconducteurinenglish.wordpress.com/2013/07/21/ana-teresa-barboza-gubo/, Retrieved

April 2, 2017.

Koel Magazine. (2016). The woven path: Ana Teresa Barboza. Studio Bloesem.

https://koel-magazine.com/blogs/the-woven-path/the-woven-path-ana-teresa-barboza. Retrieved

April 4, 2017.