As its title suggests, Riscos en Sombra (1985), meaning “markings in shadow,” exploresbthe effects of color generated by the passage of light across a woven surface of hand-dyed horsehair and wool. Olga de Amaral started using horsehair early in her artistic career in the late 1960s as a secondary material, incorporating it into some of her woven-wool fiber sculptures that were made in complex, braided or interlaced woven arrangements.The earliest related artwork to Riscos en Sombra is Muro Tejido Lineal, a large horsehair and wool hanging sculpture made in 1970 with a simple, linear construction. Woven strips of horsehair and wool are arranged and woven parallel to each other, falling straight down like heavy rain. In 1985 Amaral returned to this technique in Riscos en Sombra and the closely related Tierra y Oro series (1985-1988) before moving on to the Tierra y fibra series (1988-1990). Work from the Tierra y Oro series can be found in the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Museum of Arts and Design, New York.Amaral uses light as its own medium to create the illusion of movement. The position of the strips in relation to the light source and the varying degrees of tightness of the weave produce rippling, wave-like forms reminiscent of a moiré interference pattern. Although Riscos en Sombra does not incorporate gold as a material, this play of light nonetheless evokes the lustre of precious metal. Amaral’s work often has been likened to the hermetic practice of alchemy, the transformation of baser metals into gold. She achieves this effect in Riscos en Sombra through the deft manipulation of light and color only. The artist has not shied away from remarking on the spiritual dimensions of her work, which, like the baroque church spaces of her Catholic upbringing, make use of light to invoke a quiet sense of the sacred. The artist states: “As I build these surfaces, I create spaces of meditation, contemplation and reflection.” ¹

¹ Olga de Amaral, The House of My Imagination: Lecture by Olga de Amaral at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, April 24, 2003 (Bogotá: Zona, 2003), 7.

As its title suggests, Riscos en Sombra (1985), meaning “markings in shadow,” exploresbthe effects of color generated by the passage of light across a woven surface of hand-dyed horsehair and wool. Olga de Amaral started using horsehair early in her artistic career in the late 1960s as a secondary material, incorporating it into some of her woven-wool fiber sculptures that were made in complex, braided or interlaced woven arrangements.The earliest related artwork to Riscos en Sombra is Muro Tejido Lineal, a large horsehair and wool hanging sculpture made in 1970 with a simple, linear construction. Woven strips of horsehair and wool are arranged and woven parallel to each other, falling straight down like heavy rain. In 1985 Amaral returned to this technique in Riscos en Sombra and the closely related Tierra y Oro series (1985-1988) before moving on to the Tierra y fibra series (1988-1990). Work from the Tierra y Oro series can be found in the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Museum of Arts and Design, New York.Amaral uses light as its own medium to create the illusion of movement. The position of the strips in relation to the light source and the varying degrees of tightness of the weave produce rippling, wave-like forms reminiscent of a moiré interference pattern. Although Riscos en Sombra does not incorporate gold as a material, this play of light nonetheless evokes the lustre of precious metal. Amaral’s work often has been likened to the hermetic practice of alchemy, the transformation of baser metals into gold. She achieves this effect in Riscos en Sombra through the deft manipulation of light and color only. The artist has not shied away from remarking on the spiritual dimensions of her work, which, like the baroque church spaces of her Catholic upbringing, make use of light to invoke a quiet sense of the sacred. The artist states: “As I build these surfaces, I create spaces of meditation, contemplation and reflection.” ¹

¹ Olga de Amaral, The House of My Imagination: Lecture by Olga de Amaral at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, April 24, 2003 (Bogotá: Zona, 2003), 7.

As its title suggests, Riscos en Sombra (1985), meaning “markings in shadow,” exploresbthe effects of color generated by the passage of light across a woven surface of hand-dyed horsehair and wool. Olga de Amaral started using horsehair early in her artistic career in the late 1960s as a secondary material, incorporating it into some of her woven-wool fiber sculptures that were made in complex, braided or interlaced woven arrangements.The earliest related artwork to Riscos en Sombra is Muro Tejido Lineal, a large horsehair and wool hanging sculpture made in 1970 with a simple, linear construction. Woven strips of horsehair and wool are arranged and woven parallel to each other, falling straight down like heavy rain. In 1985 Amaral returned to this technique in Riscos en Sombra and the closely related Tierra y Oro series (1985-1988) before moving on to the Tierra y fibra series (1988-1990). Work from the Tierra y Oro series can be found in the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Museum of Arts and Design, New York.Amaral uses light as its own medium to create the illusion of movement. The position of the strips in relation to the light source and the varying degrees of tightness of the weave produce rippling, wave-like forms reminiscent of a moiré interference pattern. Although Riscos en Sombra does not incorporate gold as a material, this play of light nonetheless evokes the lustre of precious metal. Amaral’s work often has been likened to the hermetic practice of alchemy, the transformation of baser metals into gold. She achieves this effect in Riscos en Sombra through the deft manipulation of light and color only. The artist has not shied away from remarking on the spiritual dimensions of her work, which, like the baroque church spaces of her Catholic upbringing, make use of light to invoke a quiet sense of the sacred. The artist states: “As I build these surfaces, I create spaces of meditation, contemplation and reflection.” ¹

¹ Olga de Amaral, The House of My Imagination: Lecture by Olga de Amaral at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, April 24, 2003 (Bogotá: Zona, 2003), 7.

As its title suggests, Riscos en Sombra (1985), meaning “markings in shadow,” exploresbthe effects of color generated by the passage of light across a woven surface of hand-dyed horsehair and wool. Olga de Amaral started using horsehair early in her artistic career in the late 1960s as a secondary material, incorporating it into some of her woven-wool fiber sculptures that were made in complex, braided or interlaced woven arrangements.The earliest related artwork to Riscos en Sombra is Muro Tejido Lineal, a large horsehair and wool hanging sculpture made in 1970 with a simple, linear construction. Woven strips of horsehair and wool are arranged and woven parallel to each other, falling straight down like heavy rain. In 1985 Amaral returned to this technique in Riscos en Sombra and the closely related Tierra y Oro series (1985-1988) before moving on to the Tierra y fibra series (1988-1990). Work from the Tierra y Oro series can be found in the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Museum of Arts and Design, New York.Amaral uses light as its own medium to create the illusion of movement. The position of the strips in relation to the light source and the varying degrees of tightness of the weave produce rippling, wave-like forms reminiscent of a moiré interference pattern. Although Riscos en Sombra does not incorporate gold as a material, this play of light nonetheless evokes the lustre of precious metal. Amaral’s work often has been likened to the hermetic practice of alchemy, the transformation of baser metals into gold. She achieves this effect in Riscos en Sombra through the deft manipulation of light and color only. The artist has not shied away from remarking on the spiritual dimensions of her work, which, like the baroque church spaces of her Catholic upbringing, make use of light to invoke a quiet sense of the sacred. The artist states: “As I build these surfaces, I create spaces of meditation, contemplation and reflection.” ¹

¹ Olga de Amaral, The House of My Imagination: Lecture by Olga de Amaral at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, April 24, 2003 (Bogotá: Zona, 2003), 7.

As its title suggests, Riscos en Sombra (1985), meaning “markings in shadow,” exploresbthe effects of color generated by the passage of light across a woven surface of hand-dyed horsehair and wool. Olga de Amaral started using horsehair early in her artistic career in the late 1960s as a secondary material, incorporating it into some of her woven-wool fiber sculptures that were made in complex, braided or interlaced woven arrangements.The earliest related artwork to Riscos en Sombra is Muro Tejido Lineal, a large horsehair and wool hanging sculpture made in 1970 with a simple, linear construction. Woven strips of horsehair and wool are arranged and woven parallel to each other, falling straight down like heavy rain. In 1985 Amaral returned to this technique in Riscos en Sombra and the closely related Tierra y Oro series (1985-1988) before moving on to the Tierra y fibra series (1988-1990). Work from the Tierra y Oro series can be found in the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Museum of Arts and Design, New York.Amaral uses light as its own medium to create the illusion of movement. The position of the strips in relation to the light source and the varying degrees of tightness of the weave produce rippling, wave-like forms reminiscent of a moiré interference pattern. Although Riscos en Sombra does not incorporate gold as a material, this play of light nonetheless evokes the lustre of precious metal. Amaral’s work often has been likened to the hermetic practice of alchemy, the transformation of baser metals into gold. She achieves this effect in Riscos en Sombra through the deft manipulation of light and color only. The artist has not shied away from remarking on the spiritual dimensions of her work, which, like the baroque church spaces of her Catholic upbringing, make use of light to invoke a quiet sense of the sacred. The artist states: “As I build these surfaces, I create spaces of meditation, contemplation and reflection.” ¹

¹ Olga de Amaral, The House of My Imagination: Lecture by Olga de Amaral at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, April 24, 2003 (Bogotá: Zona, 2003), 7.