Carefully Crafted: The Artisan’s Approach

Vibrant and joyful, Macarena Luzi’s rugs are gloriously unique in design, colour, and shape, and are a testament to her belief in the importance of handcrafted skill. Inspired by the buoyantly bright hues of her Argentinian heritage, her pieces are full of the unexpected, with their inviting clashes of colour and contrasting textures. Alternating between elegant geometric-style designs and intricately detailed creations, Macarena’s textiles reveal the joy to be found in immersing oneself in handmade creation and creating through play.

Born and raised in Argentina, Macarena currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband, the artist Sebastian Curi. The pair share a studio, which Macarena fills with the tools of her trade; floor-to-ceiling tufting frame, wools, glues, and fabrics, and worktables for shearing and backing the rugs. “My workspace looks like a mix of an industrial workshop and a WeWork,” she laughs. Macarena likes to spend the whole workday at her studio, beginning at nine or ten in the morning so that there’s plenty of time for both drafting new designs and working on ongoing projects. Her first step in creating a design is to test shapes and colours in paper collage. The most time-consuming part comes next; using a hand tufting tool, she works the pattern onto a cloth base using different wools, a process that can take between one and three weeks depending on the project’s complexity. Once off the loom, Macarena trims the rug into shape, creating the layers and staggered pile heights that make her designs so full of texture and volume. By six or seven in the evening, it’s time to relax. “I love to cook and watch a good TV show to unwind after a workday,” she says.

Macarena thinks of the circumstances that brought her to where she is as a series of chance events. After moving to LA in 2016, she felt the need for an occupation where she could express her creativity and work with her hands. “I wanted to do my own thing, and also wanted to match our new venture with a healthier work-life balance,” she tells Wrap. “I picked up sewing and I was making my own clothes and selling handmade items when, by chance, I found the hand tufting technique on the internet.”

Macarena has now been working full-time in textile design for two years. “The first year was pretty rocky,” she says. “Starting a new project involves a big leap of faith. You have to be ready to spend time experimenting, adjusting and trusting what’s ahead.” Having established her techniques, she began to collaborate with other artists, including Malika Favre, Agathe Singer and Justyna Stasik. “Collaborating pushed my work to another level,” she explains. “As I’m self-taught, it gave me a chance to learn more about design, while also refining my technical skills. I create from play, by trial and error, so working with other people is a great way to evolve my practice.”

Particularly impressive is the rug that she created in collaboration with artist Annu Kilpeläinen, bringing to life Annu’s striking design which features a star-speckled sky, and a herd of wild horses silhouetted against a moon and mountain backdrop. “I’m a huge fan of Annu’s use of colour and her unique aesthetic, so I reached out and proposed doing a piece together,” Macarena says. “Working with her was amazing. The artwork itself is very detailed, and it took a lot of work off the loom. I did some hand carving work to make the illustration pop even more and I’ve used that technique frequently since then.”

This careful and contemplative aspect of handcrafting, of putting emotion and personality into the work, and making each creation a labour of love is something that deeply appeals to Macarena.

“Handmade objects are very important to me. There is great value in things that have been thoughtfully created,” she explains. “I enjoy being connected to every part of the process. I like knowing that I am part of a slower, more sustainable design industry.”

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macarenaluzi.com / @macarenaluzi