ARTIST / WHO ART YOU
Solena Aguilar
Textile art, material storytelling and community design
From secondhand textiles to bilingual picture books, Solena Aguilar connects material histories with community care and identity.
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Practice & background
Originally from San Francisco and working in New York, Solena Aguilar makes textile art and design informed by Nicaraguan heritage and queer experience. Characters, patterns and familiar materials make complex ideas approachable.
Materials arrive with histories. Aguilar reworks used clothing, hangers, beads and everyday objects. HANGERS combines fabric, yarn, beads and wooden hangers, encouraging renewed attention to ordinary forms and their value.
Public projects include the bilingual book What Do You Need? / ¿Qué Necesitas? and the OUR PLACE school mural in Harlem. A Cal Poly Art and Design graduate, Aguilar connects exhibitions with teaching and collaborative making across age groups.
Looking at the work
Aguilar builds narratives from the textures, uses and memories of secondhand materials, combining textiles, patternmaking and collaborative practice.
Works & practice
HANGERS, 2025; fabric, yarn, beads, paint and wooden hangers.
Solena Aguilar / official website · View original source ↗Works & further reading
Continue with the artist’s own work and institutional sources.
Artist website ↗Instagram ↗Profile based on the sources listed above; the conversation informs the viewing questions and work guides.