Fiber art is the use of natural (like wool, cotton, or silk) or synthetic fibers (like rayon or polyester) to create artistic works. Knitting, felting, and embroidery are examples of how fibers may be incorporated into different art forms. Here are three female fiber artists you should have on your radar.
Omolade Ogundimu
Born in 2000, Omolade Ogundimu is a Nigerian textile artist who experiments with rug-making using the modern tufting method. With a background in interior design, she discovered tufting as both a skill and a bonding experience. As she transforms strands of yarn into fibre fluffs to form artworks that reflect her mental state at the time of creation, her work blends nostalgia, heritage, and sustainability. Her works are often influenced by personal experiences and natural phenomena depicted through abstract visualizations. She embraces the metaphoric connection between the human experience and the very fibers she works with, as a meditation on the nurturing nature the tufting process requires, its bonding experience, and its reflection of her persona. Ogundimu’s work has been exhibited in kó gallery, Art Roost Gallery, Alara, and most recently, at Lagos, Design Week Lagos (2025).
Tinyiko Makwakwa
Tinyiko Makwakwa is a self-taught textile and fiber artist whose upbringing in Tzaneen, a large tropical garden town in South Africa, motivated her interest in exploring her relationship with nature through art. Her studio practice is an exploration of the interwoven narratives embedded in materials, the natural landscape, and making processes. Through the use of various needlework techniques, Makwakwa repurposes found textiles, garments, and pre-used fabrics to create the basis for her compositions.
Adana Tillman
Adana Tillman is a textile and fiber artist who explores identity through her figurative portraits. Tillman uses found fabrics to tell stories of the African diaspora. Mixing bold patterns, colors, and beadwork, she shows how Black people in her works are living out loud and unapologetically. Quilting, embroidery, and hand-dyeing materials are all skills that were passed down to Tillman from her mother.
Tillman’s work has been exhibited at the Institute of Contemporary Art in San Francisco and at Prizm Art Fair in Miami. She was an artist in residence at Black Art Access Residency (BAAR) Berlin and at the LEÑA Artist Research and Residency Centre in British Columbia and was a TILA Garden Fellow.
Iyanuoluwa Adenle is a Nigerian art writer, essayist, and poet based in Lagos. She is currently the head writer at Omenai. Adenle has contributed to a number of art publications, including Tender Photo, Art News Africa, Pavillon 54, and Omenai.
