karola pezarro

I live and work in the Netherlands and trained at the Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague. 

My work is based on a strong sense of wonder about the fragility of life, about the passage of time, about memory and the complexity of human thought. Through my art, I ask questions about what we carry with us, both visible and invisible, how our thoughts fan out, how we relate to the inner and outer world, how we try to exist. I explore these themes through embroidery, sculptures and videos.

To create the artworks, the embroideries, I have developed my own technique, which is a fusion of drawing, embroidery and weaving. You could say that I draw and weave at the same time with the help of a sewing machine. My embroideries are mainly made of thread and are mostly transparent. I love the fragility and stubbornness of thread. Irregularities and imperfections are always present. They are meaningful to me. I think they are an important part of beauty. Embroidery is an intense process. Where a work first appears in a quick drawing, the slow process of embroidery adds depth and focus.

With Aris de Bakker, I formed the duo Akunzo since 2014. The body of work of Akunzo consists of ephemeral, site-specific projects. Each project has a strong commitment to the site and the environment as a whole. Projects are a reflection on a site or the history of a place, and often deal with concerns about the future of the planet. Akunzo works right on the site and often uses natural materials from the vicinity such as branches or earth. On-site projects have been completed in the Netherlands, France, Spain, Switzerland, USA, South Africa and India.