MC How did you experience the lockdown on the island?
AM It was a perfect time to simply focus on what I needed, time without distractions in the workshop and finding more space to take care of myself in terms of diet and exercise. What I liked least was feeling to be so controlled by the state and seeing how the news only reported the coronavirus without mentioning so many other things that were happening.
MC Did isolation change your perception of Mallorca and / or the relationship with Spain or Europe?
AM No, rather it has been a clarification of what I already thought:
– The importance of the local economy.
– The need to review the economic models we have, since basing an entire economy on tourism (mostly cheap) and construction is not healthy. We need more local industry, bet on sustainable tourism and eliminate the image of sun and beach, we have thousands of years of history on this island that is not cared about enough (like the talaiots) and fields in poor condition for not helping duly to people who work in the fields and agriculture or who have land. They only serve to be sold and built on.
– I felt very grateful to live in the country. I never imagined that in such a short time the sea and the air could regenerate so quickly. That was the best.
MC When and how did you do the work that you are going to exhibit in our AMICS DE LA TERRA exhibition?
AM There are pieces made for the exhibition “tot torna” and others that I developed during confinement. I’ve had them in mind for a long time.
I studied fashion design in Barcelona, in BAU, Escola Superior de Diseny.
I never felt totally comfortable with the fashion world but I developed a real love for textiles in many of it’s forms.
I found the tapestry techniques, bounded to the very primary sense of textiles, as an incredible opportunity to create wild textures, volumes and shapes.
I’m combining this technique with raw materials from my surroundings. I find in them many interesting symbols like tradition, hand and artisanal work and that it relates to ancient jobs like a shepherd ( The wool comes from the sheep I help to shear), people who cultivate the plants, etc. I wish to give value to all of these concepts.
I also choose them for their intrinsic beauty. The wool, esparto, carritx, rafia (among others) in their primary form are simply so attractive to me. We usually see them treated or used in baskets, sweaters, chairs… but before giving them a practical use, I find them wonderful and I wish to share this feeling.
The colors are always natural. I have a great difficulty with using colors. The truth is that like this they naturally blend with the colors of my surroundings, and I love that.
I grew up in Mallorca, where I actually live. My studio is in Felanitx and my home in Ses Salines (the South). I feel like I’m a “Studio person”. I love to work, and it’s through “doing” that I learn and more things come up. For me, home and studio are esencial, I couldn’t function without them.
