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Untitled by Taneya Lovelace

Bertha Otoya

Click on the following icons to view artwork by Bertha Otoya:

  • Horse
  • Many Fishes
  • Scroll
  • Serpente (diptych)
  • Serpente (diptych)
  • Silver Woman
  • Tree of Life
  • Unicorno
  • Victor

View licensable artwork by Bertha Otoya →

View a video of Bertha Otoya in the studio →

Bertha Otoya

Bertha Otoya was born in 1979 in Peru, and has been an artist at Creativity Explored since moving to the United States in 2007. She is an artist who often works in embroidery and sewing.

Otoya uses traditional Peruvian techniques to create quilts and tapestries, and has been learning new stitches at Creativity Explored. She has also started working with metal: creating portraits by embossing thick copper and tin foil, which she then nails to painted wood. She uses these functional black nails to draw attention to certain areas of her figures, such as earrings or eyebrows. Otoya enjoys the physical, repetitive processes of sewing and embossing patterns onto metal. Her subject matter draws from memories of her past and the Peruvian landscape.

In 2009, the printmaking process has fascinated Otoya. Using a combination of visual imagery and found texts she has created a unique body of print work, culminating in her impressive, forty foot long scroll, made with a combination of hand lettering and block prints. The scroll is housed in a box constructed, and adorned, by Otoya.

Selected Exhibitions

  • 2010

    • Santos y Otros Creatures, Creativity Explored

  • 2009

    • Introductions, Creativity Explored
    • TV and Me, Creativity Explored

the workspace of Marietta Canoza, studio artist