The New Wave: Lulú Varona

Photo x Mara Corsino.

One of the many drivers of art is serenity, and the work of María “Lulú” Varona, 27, does exactly that. Standing in front of her embroidery is a religious experience. You can do nothing but admire it — not only for its aesthetic beauty, but also for its meticulousness. Lulú has been embroidering since she was ten. Her passion for her graphic novels propelled her to embroider her own comics.

“I made my first embroidered comic strip as a token of love to my partner when I was 19 years old. I haven't stopped embroidering since." Lulú tells me via email, “I had a Spanish teacher at the university, Lola Aponte, who knitted while she was teaching. Her work, her dedication and elegance inspired me a lot." In 2014, she had her first solo exhibition at the now-non-existent comic book store Mondo Bizarro in Río Piedras. Then, in 2017 she had another show at a secret gallery in Condado, The Maid's Room. In 2021 she had her third and largest exhibition at Embajada. This year she is one of the featured artists at the Whitney’s exhibition on Puerto Rican art post Hurricane.

For her last solo show, she presented work from the last 6 years. “I was a little hopeless about what it is like to be an artist in Puerto Rico. [Thanks to the show] new people were able to see my work in person and three art magazines included it in their digital catalog which is super exciting. " During the time of the exhibition Lulú was embroidering in situ every Saturday in Embajada, located in Hato Rey. Lulú continues, “[The gallery owners] Christopher [Rodríguez] and Manuela [Paz] have treated me de show. I admire the work they are doing with the space and the support they offer to their artists.”

I am curious to know what Lulú thinks about where the art of embroidery stands in relation to other practices in Puerto Rican art. “It doesn't have the same respect. I think that painting is still considered a more 'valuable' art." She continues, “I think there is no respect for textiles in general, especially in Puerto Rico, due to the lack of resources. At the University of Puerto Rico there are no textile classes in the arts department and, to my knowledge, at the Escuela de Artes Plásticas in order to work with textiles you must be in the fashion design department. It is not a medium that is promoted, therefore it is rare and attracts a lot of attention. In that sense it benefits us. Although it is an exoticism that, in my opinion, is based on the ignorance of textiles as a cultural object/a piece of art. It’s necessary to go deeper. "