Paula do Prado
Paula do Prado lives and works on Gadigal Land (Sydney). Born on Charrúa and Guaraní land (Montevideo), Uruguay, do Prado emigrated to Australia in 1986. Her work explores the intersections between her African, Hispanic and European heritage together with her experience of living as a migrant on stolen land.
do Prado’s recent works weave together intergenerational experiences and realign with her heritage as a form of self-healing. She combines recycled fabrics and yarns with symbolically and historically charged materials such as trade beads and seeds to create multi-layered works with references to reproductive organs and totemic animal forms (owls, octopi, jellyfish). do Prado draws specifically on the history and influences of West African adornment and beading traditions on Afro-Uruguayan cultural identity. She seeks to work against colonial and patriarchal systems that function to simplify, reduce, make less visible and otherwise de-humanise and silence the voices of women of colour. Her artworks also look to connect to a broad audience by breaking down binaries, sitting in complexity and the interconnectedness of mind, body and spirit.
do Prado holds a Master of Fine Arts from the University of New South Wales Art & Design. This year, for the second year running she has been awarded an Artist Studio Residency from Woollahra Municipal Council and her work will be exhibited in the Rijswijk Textile Biennial in the Netherlands and in “Life Threads: Weaving and Storytelling” at The Australian Tapestry Workshop.
