Short Bio
Carolina Bedoya is a New York-based textile artist who transforms post-consumer textile waste into thought-provoking works of art. Using a self-taught needle-felting technique, she deconstructs discarded garments and reconstructs them into intricate, textured compositions that challenge perceptions of waste and value. Her work not only preserves and repurposes materials but also invites viewers to engage with sustainability through art. Each piece is a testament to the potential of circular design, celebrating discarded fabrics by giving them renewed life and purpose. Carolina's work has been exhibited internationally and is part of the Cooper Hewitt Museum’s Textile Collection
Statement
I am a textile artist committed to redefining waste through material transformation. My work is rooted in the belief that discarded textiles hold untapped potential—each fiber carrying a story of production, consumption, and disposal. Using a self-taught needle-felting technique, I deconstruct post-consumer garments and reconstruct them into intricate compositions, challenging the perception of what is valuable. Textiles are deeply personal; they touch our skin, hold our memories, and shape our identities. By repurposing them, I aim to bridge the gap between art and sustainability, inviting viewers to see beyond waste and recognize the beauty in renewal. My process is both intuitive and intentional—layering, felting, and reshaping materials into works that speak of resilience, resourcefulness, and change. Through my art, I seek to extend the lifecycle of textiles, fostering a dialogue about circularity, responsibility, and our relationship with material culture. By preserving and celebrating what was once discarded, I hope to inspire a shift in how we view and interact with the world around us.
Biography
New York based textile artist and systems thinker. Passionate about extending the life-cycle of textiles and creating re-manufacturing operational systems to move the textile industry towards a more circular system where waste is treated as a valued resource. Strongly motivated to create art to increase the perception and value of discarded pre- and post-consumer textile materials.
Carolina, born in Bogota, Colombia, and living in the United States since the age of 15, has dedicated the last 8 years of her multifaceted professional career at a clothing company, exploring textile recycling solutions; creating systems and operations to receive, sort, recover and manage textile “waste”.
Carolina has observed firsthand the production scale, consumption and disposal of clothes and the negative environmental impact thereof on the planet by the textile industry.
Determined to act and raise awareness about the destructive and negative linear model of the current textile eco-system, Carolina wields art to create consciousness and prolong the life-cycle of textile fibers. Post-consumer textile “waste” is deconstructed and transformed from its original intended purpose as clothing and artistically transformed into unique, yet functional pieces of art through her self-taught needle felting technique. Her work has been exhibited at the Invisible Dog Art Center, New York; Lisa Cooley Gallery, New York; Lower East Side Gallery, New York; Earth Matters, New York and the Salon Internazionale Del Mobile Di Milano - Ventura Centrale, Milan.
