III. Light, Shadow & Space

Light and shadow occupy a central position in her visual and sculptural language. Light is not merely an element that illuminates the work; it is a presence she seeks to contain, reveal, and transform through material. Equally important is the shadow cast by each piece, which extends its physical presence into the surrounding space.

The distance between the woven structure and the wall allows the shadow to expand, becoming an integral part of the sculptural experience. Through this interplay, the work unfolds beyond its material boundaries, creating additional dimensions, depth, and shifting perceptions of space.

Through the interplay of warm and cool tones, light and dark values, and subtle gradations of colour, Karina creates visual contrasts that establish rhythm, depth, and balance. The repetition of gestures and the accumulation of tonal variations generate a sense of movement across the surface, while the interplay of opposing qualities gives each composition its particular visual harmony.

IV. Material Research

Her practice brings together natural fibres of plant and animal origin, silks, wools from different parts of the world, metallic threads, copper, and industrial materials. Her research begins with an understanding of each material’s particular qualities, behaviour, and the relationships that can emerge through their combination.

From this perspective, she has developed the concept of the Material DNA Bank: an evolving reservoir of materials that preserves their individual histories, latent qualities, and potential for future transformations. Each material carries an origin, a history, and a particular memory; together, they form a material reservoir whose possibilities may unfold into new transformations, like seeds waiting to emerge in another time.

I. Origins & Formation

Karina Santacoloma is a Colombian contemporary artist whose work explores weaving as a language of manifestation, revealing the consciousness inherent in matter and in all that exists.

She grew up in Colombia’s Coffee Region, a territory of deep ancestral Quimbaya heritage and extraordinary natural richness. As a child, she was captivated by the nocturnal chorus of frogs and crickets, alongside the songs of birds, perceiving these sounds as a language she wanted to understand. She wondered whether her ancestors had listened to these same melodies and what they might have learned from them. This early awareness of the continuity between nature, human memory, and generations nurtured a sensitivity to rhythm and harmony that would later become a recurring thread in her artistic practice.

Her academic formation began with Industrial Engineering, a discipline that shaped her understanding of systems, relationships, sequences, and proportions. This analytical foundation continues to inform her approach to nature, which she observes not only through its visible forms but also through the underlying principles governing its processes. She subsequently studied Fashion and Textile Design in Milan, followed by Design and Fine Arts at Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, bringing together structural thinking, material experimentation, and artistic intuition.

II. Weaving as a Language

The discovery of Olga de Amaral’s work marked a decisive moment in her relationship with weaving. In her work, Karina recognised the possibility of an artistic language in which fibre could transcend its functional purpose and acquire spatial, symbolic, and contemplative dimensions. Years later, after presenting Olga with three of her own works, she was personally invited to visit her studio. This encounter reaffirmed her conviction to devote her practice to the exploration of textile as an autonomous artistic language.

For Karina, weaving is both an ancestral practice and a multidimensional language. Throughout human history, it has served as a means of shelter, construction, symbolic expression, and the transmission of knowledge. Its presence in sacred and mystical texts and traditions also reveals its potential as a metaphor for creation: the thread that connects, the weave that brings elements together, and the intersection of planes as an expression of an interconnected existence. In her work, these ideas materialise through structures that explore transitions between planes, the relationship between the visible and invisible, and the continuity between matter and consciousness.

K A R I N A .

Early Textile Explorations

Early Textile Explorations

V. The Weaving of Consciousness

In 2024, she developed El tejido de la conciencia (The Weaving of Consciousness) at Universidad de los Andes, a research project that brings together the conceptual and spiritual foundations of her practice. It approaches weaving as a form of active meditation and a means of accessing a deeper perception of the relationships between human beings, nature, and the universe. Through repetition, ordinary attention becomes quiet, allowing gesture to become rhythm, rhythm to become structure, and structure to become matter. Grounded in her conviction that consciousness is present in all things, Karina understands art as a way of making it visible: not merely representing the world, but participating in its manifestation.

VI. Exhibitions & International Presence

Her work has been presented in Bogotá, Miami, and Los Angeles. In 2025, she participated in Expo 2025 Osaka, Japan, as part of the Colombia Pavilion, in an international cultural initiative with the support of ProColombia. Her work contributed to the pavilion’s representation of Colombia, with a vibrant palette of colours evoking the country’s cultural and natural diversity.

Her ongoing practice continues to expand the possibilities of textile language through an exploration of matter, light, perception, and consciousness

Equally important is the shadow cast by each piece, which extends its physical presence into the surrounding space.

The distance between the woven structure and the wall allows the shadow to expand, becoming an integral part of the sculptural experience. Through this interplay, the work unfolds beyond its material boundaries, creating additional dimensions, depth, and shifting perceptions of space.

Through the interplay of warm and cool tones, light and dark values, and subtle gradations of colour, Karina creates visual contrasts that establish rhythm, depth, and balance. The repetition of gestures and the accumulation of tonal variations generate a sense of movement across the surface, while the interplay of opposing qualities gives each composition its particular visual harmony.

IV. Material Research

Her practice brings together natural fibres of plant and animal origin, silks, wools from different parts of the world, metallic threads, copper, and industrial materials. Her research begins with an understanding of each material’s particular qualities, behaviour, and the relationships that can emerge through their combination.

From this perspective, she has developed the concept of the Material DNA Bank: an evolving reservoir of materials that preserves their individual histories, latent qualities, and potential for future transformations. Each material carries an origin, a history, and a particular memory; together, they form a material reservoir whose possibilities may unfold into new transformations, like seeds waiting to emerge in another time.

V. The Weaving of Consciousness

In 2024, she developed El tejido de la conciencia (The Weaving of Consciousness) at Universidad de los Andes, a research project that brings together the conceptual and spiritual foundations of her practice. It approaches weaving as a form of active meditation and a means of accessing a deeper perception of the relationships between human beings, nature, and the universe. Through repetition, ordinary attention becomes quiet, allowing gesture to become rhythm, rhythm to become structure, and structure to become matter.

I. Origins & Formation

Karina Santacoloma is a Colombian contemporary artist whose work explores weaving as a language of manifestation, revealing the consciousness inherent in matter and in all that exists.

She grew up in Colombia’s Coffee Region, a territory of deep ancestral Quimbaya heritage and extraordinary natural richness. As a child, she was captivated by the nocturnal chorus of frogs and crickets, alongside the songs of birds, perceiving these sounds as a language she wanted to understand. She wondered whether her ancestors had listened to these same melodies and what they might have learned from them. This early awareness of the continuity between nature, human memory, and generations nurtured a sensitivity to rhythm and harmony that would later become a recurring thread in her artistic practice

Her academic formation began with Industrial Engineering, a discipline that shaped her understanding of systems, relationships, sequences, and proportions. This analytical foundation continues to inform her approach to nature, which she observes not only through its visible forms but also through the underlying principles governing its processes. She subsequently studied Fashion and Textile Design in Milan, followed by Design and Fine Arts at Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, bringing together structural thinking, material experimentation, and artistic intuition.

II. Weaving as a Language

The discovery of Olga de Amaral’s work marked a decisive moment in her relationship with weaving. In her work, Karina recognised the possibility of an artistic language in which fibre could transcend its functional purpose and acquire spatial, symbolic, and contemplative dimensions. Years later, after presenting Olga with three of her own works, she was personally invited to visit her studio. This encounter reaffirmed her conviction to devote her practice to the exploration of textile as an autonomous artistic language.

For Karina, weaving is both an ancestral practice and a multidimensional language. Throughout human history, it has served as a means of shelter, construction, symbolic expression, and the transmission of knowledge. Its presence in sacred and mystical texts and traditions also reveals its potential as a metaphor for creation: the thread that connects, the weave that brings elements together, and the intersection of planes as an expression of an interconnected existence. In her work, these ideas materialise through structures that explore transitions between planes, the relationship between the visible and invisible, and the continuity between matter and consciousness.

III. Light, Shadow & Space

Light and shadow occupy a central position in her visual and sculptural language. Light is not merely an element that illuminates the work; it is a presence she seeks to contain, reveal, and transform through material.

Grounded in her conviction that consciousness is present in all things, Karina understands art as a way of making it visible: not merely representing the world, but participating in its manifestation.

VI. Exhibitions & International Presence

Her work has been presented in Bogotá, Miami, and Los Angeles. In 2025, she participated in Expo 2025 Osaka, Japan, as part of the Colombia Pavilion, in an international cultural initiative with the support of ProColombia. Her work contributed to the pavilion’s representation of Colombia, with a vibrant palette of colours evoking the country’s cultural and natural diversity.

Her ongoing practice continues to expand the possibilities of textile language through an exploration of matter, light, perception, and consciousness

K A R I N A .

Early Textile Explorations

Early Textile Explorations

NATIONAL CAPITOL OF COLOMBIA

Bogotá, Colombia, 2024
Constitution Hall

Bogotá, Colombia, 2024

NATIONAL POLICE HISTORICAL MUSEUM OF COLOMBIA

B. DAVID LEVINE

Los Angeles, USA, 2023-Present
Showroom (La Cienega Blvd)

GALERÍA DE ARTE HACIENDA CASTILLA

Pereira, Colombia, 2023
"Espejismos y Paisajes" - two-room exhibitions (38 works),
Presented alongside a concurrent exhibitions of Luis Caballero

EDGAR NEGRET MUSEUM OF MODERN ART

Bogotá, Colombia, 2022

UNIVERSIDAD DE LOS ANDES

Bogotá, Colombia, B.A. in Design, 2019-2025
Focus in Textile Practices; Minor in Fine Arts, 2020-2025

MILAN FASHION CAMPUS

Milan, Italy, Fashion and Textile Design Studies, 2019

UNIVERSIDAD DE LOS ANDES

Bogotá, Colombia, Industrial Engineering, 2017-2019

NEW ENGLAND SCHOOL OF ENGLISH (NESE)

Harvard Square - Boston, MA, USA
English Studies, 2016

LYCÉE FRANÇAIS DE PEREIRA

Pereira, Colombia, French Baccalaureat (Scientific Track)

S E L E C T E D E X H I B I T I O N S

EDUCATION

GALERIA AZUR

Miami, United States, 2026
Biscayne Blvd

Madrid, Spain, Creative Writing, Continuing Education, 2020

ESCUELA DE ESCRITORES