Mallorcan artist Adriana Meunié tells us why she doesn't believe in easy beauty

Adriana Meunié fell in love with textiles while studying fashion design at BAU Centro Universitario de Diseño in Barcelona, Spain. 'I feel like textiles have become the language with which I can express myself better,' she says, reflecting on her ever-growing body of woven work. Her large-scale weavings and tapestries, appearing like hairy mythical creatures, are made using traditional weaving techniques and local materials sourced from her native Mallorca. Although calm and mesmerising, her works can also be slightly unsettling – possessing a tension that she describes as a kind of 'monstrous elegance'.

Born and raised in the small coastal resort of Cala Llombards, for Meunié, exploring different woven textures and volumes offered a return to something fundamental. 'It was like going back to the essential and primordial textile form,' she tells Wallpaper*.

In 2014, after years of experimentation, she came across a raw piece of wool in an old barn and was captivated by its beauty and textures. In this moment, she says, she realised the importance of provenance – understanding where materials come from, who works with them and how.

Over time, she learned how to turn this raw material into something clean yet expressive, initially creating woven pieces before she started attaching the wool – along with rope, grass and leaves – to canvases, creating tapestries that she likens to woven paintings. 'This opened a whole new portal and it allowed me to create more defined lines and shapes,' she says. 'I always say that I’m a studio person – it’s by doing that I learn and new things come out. One piece evolves from the other through a mistake... an idea while working.'

As an island, Mallorca has a proud history of craft and making that was developed out of necessity to be self-sufficient. Traditional fabrics called Teixit de Llengües are still made on looms, but the number of people with the requisite knowledge and skill is vastly reduced – Meunié says only three companies using the technique remain on the island. While there are still basketry artisans practising across Mallorca, Meunié believes the rapid growth of tourism has contributed to the loss of other techniques. 'Tourism is a very tricky business – it can erase cultural heritage if you don’t position and value it as a community,' she reflects. 'It was one of my motivations to start using the local materials of my surroundings. Twelve years ago, it wasn’t so popular here. I was so tired and sad with the image of sun and beach that Mallorca had, that I decided to concentrate my attention in the land part: sheep, vegetal materials, our fields, shepherds and farmers.'

Since she began her practice, Meunié has noticed a revival of local craft and its potential to be used to create contemporary art and design. 'Mallorca is so culturally rich: we have our language, a long tradition in craft, a way of living simply (the true Mediterranean), a millenary history. I think that globally, people are increasingly appreciating craft because it connects you better to the place where you find yourself, and in this tech era we are stepping into so quickly, I think it’s crucial for everyone to keep a connection with reality.'

Today Meunié lives and works from a renovated Mallorcan farmhouse in the south of the island surrounded by fields. Her working day is punctuated by taking care of her many animals – a coop of chickens, a donkey named Cato, Petit the goat and her dog, Tota. 'I fight for having time,' she laments. 'It’s incredible because the world is so crazy that even living in the countryside doesn’t exempt me from feeling a kind of constant stress, like if the days were too short. I really don’t like this sensation – it’s my life goal to get rid of it somehow.'

Since 2024, Meunié has been working with Sarah Myerscough Gallery, participating in the group show 'Thread' - an international survey on contemporary woven work – earlier in 2026. At PAD London 2026 (13-18 October) she will present two tapestries named 'A Wall of Wilderness', made using a combination of plant fibres from her native Mallorca, including carritx, esparto, sisal, linen, estopa and antique esparto rope. These tapestries, she explains, create a sense of movement but also play with the idea of bringing the outside in – 'like having a bit of a field inside a space', she says.

'Nature isn’t only calming, it’s also wild, violent and dangerous,' she reflects. 'That tension is something I want to keep digging into, or let’s say, what gives me satisfaction, because I don’t believe in simple or easy beauty. I think that when something is unsettling, it’s because it’s moving things in you that maybe you weren’t aware of.'

Adriana Meunié is at Sarah Myerscough Gallery, Booth B27, PAD London, 13 to 18 October 2026 at Berkeley Square