Ilinka Mergudich Smoje : Born in Punta Arenas, Chile 1966. She started her Loom Weaving studies in the «Casa Azul del Arte» art school, Punta Arenas, with outstanding textile art experts’ tutoring. Here, she was part of the Mineduc project «Creación de tapices murales basados en el rescate mítico religioso de las etnias australes» (Mural tapestry creation based on austral ethnicities’ mythical-religious recovery), developed between 1999 and 2000, highlighting the cultural display «El viento cuenta» (The wind tales), held in France and Spain during May and June 2001.
In 2004, the artist moved with her family to Coyhaique city, Aysén region. This place motivates her to generate new creative processes, researching and incorporating various local elements in a constant search of colours and textures, highlighting the permanent investigation of natural sheep wool dyeing techniques with materials collected from the Patagonian forest. Her topics address the revalorization of the native understory, environmental conservation and the landscape. Her imprint is free and combines figurative and abstract compositions, in a volumetric wall tapestry released from the plane, which can be perceived at 180 degrees.
In 2015, she obtained the Regional Fondart and developed the «Ku» project, which translates to «tree leaf» in Aonikenk language, exhibiting her work at Coyhaique’s Cultural Centre, Coyhaique’s Regional Library and Puerto Aysén’s Public Library and Cultural House.
In 2017, she was selected as a national exhibitor for the Chilean stand at «Feria Ambiente» Frankfurt, Germany. During the same year, she was part of the collective exhibition «Chile Limita al Centro» with artists from other regions in the MATUCANA 100 cultural centre, Santiago, an exhibition also held in October at the Museum of Modern Art in Castro, within the framework of the «Traslado» programme.
Regarding her latest work, she developed the «HUMEDAL» (Wetland) 2018 Fondart project, creating wall tapestries inspired on water-based life forms. Ilinka currently lives and works in Coyhaique. Ilinka currently lives and works in Coyhaique.