Marita Setas Ferro
Pink Corals Reef, 2025
Wool, polyester, acrylic, polyamide yarns, upcycled copper (for the internal structure), 90x60x30cm High (approximate)
Inspired by the rare beauty of pink coral, this textile sculpture captures the fragile elegance of ocean life through the intricate language of crochet. Using soft gradients of pale blush, warm salmon, and coral rose, each thread is carefully chosen to echo the natural hues of angel skin coral, found in places as diverse as the South Pacific, the Mediterranean, and deep sea realms like the Endless Pink Coral Forest. The layered crochet technique mimics the branching, undulating forms of coral reefs, creating a tactile experience that invites touch and closeness. By building clusters, folds, and spirals, the piece evokes the living texture of coral colonies—delicate yet resilient. This sculptural work transforms yarn into a vivid, almost breathing surface, where color and form combine to suggest both depth and vulnerability. "Pink Corals Reef" is not only a visual homage to marine beauty, but a sensual one—drawing viewers closer with its softness, complexity, and dimensionality. The urge to touch becomes an emotional gesture, echoing the human longing to connect with nature. Through craft, texture, and form, this piece celebrates the silent poetry of the sea’s most precious architectures.
Marita Setas Ferro
Red Corals Reef, 2025
Wool, polyester, acrylic, polyamide yarns, upcycled copper (for the internal structure), 95x80x15cm High (approximate)
Red Corals Reef is a tactile textile wall sculpture—an invitation to see with the hands and feel with the heart. Inspired by Corallium rubrum, the endangered red coral of the Mediterranean and Atlantic, this piece pays homage to a vanishing marine forest by reimagining its delicate forms in fiber. In mythology, coral is steeped in wonder. It was born, the Greeks said, from Medusa’s blood, turning to stone as it touched the sea. Romans believed it guarded children and healed venomous wounds. These stories remind us that coral has always stirred awe—not just for its colour or form, but for its spirit. Here, coral is reborn in soft textiles—stitched, knotted, and layered by hand. Visitors are invited to touch, to explore with their fingers the textures and rhythms of the sea without harm. This wall piece becomes both a sensory landscape and a quiet act of resistance against loss. By translating the coral’s presence into cloth, Red Corals becomes a space of connection. It asks: can we admire without possessing? Can we remember without wounding? Through touch, this sculpture tells us yes—and offers the enduring beauty of nature not taken, but honoured.
Marita Setas Ferro
Red Corals, 2025
Wool, polyester, acrylic, polyamide yarns, upcycled polyester padding 60cm (diameter) x 32cm high (approximate)
Red Corals is a textile sculpture born from reverence—an homage to a silent forest beneath the sea. Inspired by Corallium rubrum, the rare and precious red coral, this work seeks to echo the intricate beauty of marine life without disturbing its fragile existence. In Red Corals, I translate these underwater forms into textile—thread becoming structure, softness becoming memory. It is an act of preservation through transformation. With each stitch, I seek to honour the unseen, the endangered, the sacred. We need not extract beauty to know it. Through art, we can feel the ocean’s pulse, and imagine a future where nature’s wonders are preserved, not plundered. A coral that lives, not bleeds.
