Monica Nicolau- Textile Artist

Monica Nicolau, Mexico City-based, is a multidisciplinary artist whose merges graphic design, painting and textile art, positioning her as a vital voice in the contemporary reevaluation of fiber-based mediums. Trained in Graphic Design from the Universidad Iberoamericana (UIA) in Mexico City, Nicolau further honed her aesthetic sensibilities with certifications in Textile Design and Interior Design, alongside two decades of rigorous exploration in diverse painting techniques—pencil, charcoal, sanguine, watercolor, acrylic, and oil. Her early career as a professional graphic designer laid the groundwork for a visual language marked by precision and narrative depth, which she later expanded into the tactile realm of textiles.
 

Since 2012, Nicolau has dedicated herself to textiles, a practice that synthesizes her mastery of color, form, and materiality. By integrating painting techniques directly onto cotton fabrics and employing free-motion machine quilting, she challenges the boundaries between “craft” and “contemporary art,” transforming layered textiles into dynamic canvases..

Nicolau’s exhibitions, spanning three decades, trace her evolution from collective painting showcases in Mexico (1996–2011) to international textile art platforms. Notable milestones include her participation in the International Quilt Festivals of Houston (2015, 2018) and Chicago (2016), as well as recent collective exhibitions at Darío Martínez Gallery and Art 58 Gallery in Mexico City (2023, 2024, 2025). These events underscore her role in redefining textiles as a contemporary art form, one that carries the weight of  cultural storytelling and personal introspection.