Biography

Sarabeth Triviño is a textile artist of Chilean origin. In 2007, she arrived in Montreal, and in 2008 she became a professional artisan member of the Conseil des métiers d’arts du Québec. For the past few years, she has been working as an artisan and visual artist. In 2017, she obtained a bachelor’s degree in visual and media arts from UQAM, while developing her approach as a textile artist. Since then, her work has been inspired by the issues of today’s world. Today, she participates in a collective of women of diverse origins who work on the subject of gender violence.

Approach and works on display

For Sarabeth Triviño, the heritage of artisanal know-how is a means of artistic expression and an affirmation of her identity. Her creative process always revolves around a thread : knitting manifests itself as a gesture that is continually repeated and that she uses for narrative purposes. Triviño is interested in the recovery of this ancestral activity associated mainly with women in a domestic context, in order to generate a contemporary feminist discourse. In her practice, she incorporates techniques such as crochet, macramé, embroidery and knitting, which involve laborious and meticulous work, often requiring long hours of devotion. In the process, the temporary dimension of the work metaphorically embodies time and transcendence. Her sculptures and installations represent human figures and nature through textile art. The body, space and materials are essential elements of her three-dimensional creations that offer a sensory experience to the viewer. Triviño’s recent works are inspired by the stories of women in her own family, their domestic macrocosm as well as their sexuality and body as territory, which has become a vehicle to examine the issues and conditions of women today.

Je m’appelle Eli (2021)

The installation Je m’appelle Eli speaks of someone who is starting their personal process of breaking out of binarity. Indeed, this person who has been assigned and named a girl at birth, does not identify with the feminine nor masculine gender. Thus, as a non-binary person, they change their first name to Eli. This work consists of two elements : the first is a little dress that belonged to Eli when they were only eighteen months old. This piece was embroidered by their mother’s hands with the inscription “My name is Eli”. The threads used for the embroidery correspond to the colors of the non-binary flag. This garment represents Eli’s body in its process of identity transformation. The second object is a circle that symbolizes a mandala also crocheted by the mother. The gesture of knitting emerges as a metaphorical narrative where two stories intersect: that of Eli, who is living the process of transition to their gender identity, and that of the mother, who accompanies them in their process for self-affirmation. The two objects are placed inside a glass case. This closed capsule illustrates Eli’s sense of oppression in their social interrelationships, as well as their fears and anxieties. However, they have begun a journey to face the world with a free and more resilient spirit.

Works by the artist