Tiempo

Gabino Méndez García

A study in time, material and dimension, Hourglass is handwoven in natural cotton with black thread forming an hourglass at its center.

The restrained palette gives the work an almost architectural quality, while the black thread rises from the surface of the textile, transforming the traditional two-dimensional weave into a three-dimensional composition. The hourglass is not simply depicted—it is constructed through the weaving itself, giving the passage of time physical form.

The simplicity of the materials makes the dimensionality of the work especially striking. Viewed from different angles, the shadows cast by the raised threads become part of the composition, continually changing with the light.

Artist: Gabino Méndez García
Title: Tiempo
Origin: San Pablo Villa de Mitla, Oaxaca, Mexico
Material: Natural cotton and black thread
Technique: Handwoven, three-dimensional textile
Format: Textile artwork

The Artist: Gabino Méndez García

Contemporary Textile Artist | Mitla, Oaxaca

Gabino Méndez García comes from a multigenerational family of weavers in San Pablo Villa de Mitla, Oaxaca, where the family workshop, Artelar, has carried the tradition of weaving forward for generations. He learned the craft alongside his father, master weaver Emiliano Méndez Aguilar, absorbing the discipline, precision and deep knowledge of the loom that define the family's work.

His work was presented at the Museo Textil de Oaxaca in presencia, ausencia, an exhibition exploring memory, inheritance and the evolution of traditional weaving into a deeply personal contemporary practice.

After his father's passing in 2021, Gabino returned to the loom not only as a weaver, but as an artist. What began as a way to process loss became an exploration of his own creative language.

Gabino's work bridges tradition and contemporary art. Inspired by architecture, geometry, light and shadow, he creates textiles that feel almost like drawings or abstract landscapes. Lines move freely across the surface, intersecting and drifting rather than following predetermined patterns. The spaces between them—the pauses, openings and empty fields—are as important as the threads themselves.

Each piece is woven by hand on the loom, carrying both the knowledge passed down through generations and Gabino's own evolving artistic vision.

At found., we are drawn to work like Gabino's because it reminds us that craft is not static. Traditions remain alive when artists are given the freedom to carry them somewhere new.