ANA

ROOTS

Discover the world behind the work. The Venezuelan rainforests and natural landscapes that shape Ana's vision, the rare woods and hand-woven fibers she transforms into sculpture, and the deep belief that trees hold something essential about the connection between earth and sky. Explore her story, her creative process, and a full list of exhibitions, from international art fairs to permanent collections in luxury hospitality and healing spaces.

  • Ana Mariani (b. 1965) is originally from the State of Bolivar, in the south of Venezuela, an extensive region crossed by the Orinoco River and its tributaries. The jungles of the Orinoquia extend until they merge with the Amazon. Its rainforests are 75 million years old, and it is considered the green lung of the planet. It is a landscape of imposing plateaus that date back to the origins of the planet, such as Autana, a mythological mountain that represents the Tree of Life for the indigenous cultures that have inhabited this dense forest since time immemorial. The daughter of Italian immigrants, her childhood was shaped by that stunning landscape and her memories of her stays in southern Italy.

    After several years of intense journeys, Ana Mariani decided to establish her workshop in Winter Park, Florida, where she began to make her wood sculptures, illustrated with textiles and fabrics of vibrant colors. The branches she uses evoke the treetops she observed with fascination in the Orinoquia during the early stages of her life. “I observe the branches of those trees, that touch the sky and bring it to me, so that I may tell my stories” says the artist.

    Ana Mariani intervenes in nature through the interspersed use of branches and selected wood that form irregular structures of original harmony, covered with colored fabrics that illuminate or illustrate them with abstract shapes, erasing the limits between painting and sculpture, radiating an unusual expressive intensity, causing an enchantment for the observer. The illumination or illustration of the wood is an intermediation with the spiritual and symbolic essence of the trees. The act of weaving on these revives the ancestral rituals with which creation is represented, since, according to ancient beliefs, the nature that welcomes and protects living beings and the universe with all its constellations and planets, are interwoven into the same warp. We are in the presence of a work fueled by a charge of ancestral spirituality and the abstraction of the artist.

    Her works are found in private collections in Europe, South/Central America and across the United States.

  • I have opened a window to nature and created a language to communicate what I discover and perceive about it. I listen to it; I listen to the trees and they become the raw material for my works. The materials I use are the protagonists of my proposal. I use wood and branches of different types. The Pine tree, whose essence is nobility and aroma, since the evergreen conifers are an embodiment of the inexhaustible and eternal principles of life. The branches of Poplar (Aspen), which in many cultures throughout history have attributed healing and mystical properties. Another of the woods that I use is the Birch tree, which since ancient times has been considered a sacred tree that for the Celts symbolized the Sun and the Moon.

    If we delve into its spiritual meaning, the tree shows us a connection between the Earth (roots) and the sky (branches). There are various myths that talk about the tree of life and its link between the human and the divine. The tree is considered the embodiment of the vital principle because throughout the seasons of the year, its periodic renewal allows us to perceive the sacred energy of the living.

    The wood and branches of the trees that I utilize and that nourish my works come to life and are bearers of remote beliefs. I illuminate those branches again, weaving abstract designs of intense colors into their contours.

    Regarding my creative process I can say that I do not work on my artwork, I caress my artwork as an emotional need. Once I define the shape and arrangement of the wood, I let them speak to me and I follow my instinct and a thread of color invites another of a different color and texture, they come naturally to me, they are not thought, it is my intuition and my hands that work with the same strength and intensity of nature while I cover them with goat wool; Mohair yarn from the Angora goat, one of the oldest textile fibers, produced exclusively in Turkey, I also use those from the Tibetan goat; alpaca wool, virgin merino sheep wool, cotton, rayon family threads. I also use camel hair, llama hair, qiviut or Alaskan musk ox wool fiber and fabric, and some man-made fibers, such as cotton thread, sari silk yarn, among others. I connect in such a way to the work in progress that each layer of abstract fabrics tells a part of the story that I wish to convey. What defines me as an artist is that each of my pieces are unique.

    With my Illuminated Branches, I invite the observer to accompany me to explore the restorative properties of nature, promoting a reconnection with our environment and a re-enchantment of our world.

  • Orlando Museum of Art – Echoes of the Ancient in Contemporary Voices, selected by the Curatorial team of OMA for inclusion in this thematic group exhibition – June/July 2026.

    Okinawa Collection 18 Piece Commission – Ilya for Canopy by Hilton Miyako Island Oct. 2025.

    Hilton Sedona 2 Piece Commission – Forrest Perkins Aug. 2025.

    CBRE Dallas Office 2 Piece Commission – IndieWalls Jul. 2025.

    Jules Place Art & Consulting – Since Mar. 2025.

    Undisclosed Luxury Hospitality - California Permanent Collection - Dec. 2024.

    UW Health / Eastpark Medical Center - Madison Wisconsin Permanent Collection - Oct. 2024.

    Canyon House - Colorado Permanent Collection - Jun. 2024.

    Brasada Ranch Luxury Resort Hotel 16 Piece “Foresta Bruma” Collection Commission, Aug. 2023.

    Multi-Colors and Cultures / Series 2 Voices @ Aspire Gallery by SoTA – Orlando, Florida, Feb. 2023.  

    Jennifer Balcos Gallery – Atlanta, Georgia, Sep. 2022.

    Southall Farm & Inn Luxury Resort 10 piece “Sherwood” Collection Commission, Aug. 2022.

    Spoleto Festival USA / Mitchell-Hill Gallery, May. 2022.

    At the Root Group Exhibition – Charlotte NC – Sozo Gallery, Apr. 2022. 

    Calloway Fine Art Gallery – Washington D.C., Since Feb. 2022.

    State of The Art (SoTA) artist. Online and Orlando, Florida, Jan. 2022.

    Context Art Miami – Miami Art Week, Nov. 2021.

    Mar. 2022. Artis Fine Arts Gallery, Hollywood, Florida, Nov. 2021.

    High Point Market/Mr. Brown Showroom, High Point, North Carolina, Oct. 2021.

    ESTAMPA/IFEMA Contemporary Art Fair; Madrid, Spain, Apr. 2021.

    Sozo Gallery, Charlotte, North Carolina, Mar. 2021.

    Mitchell Hill Gallery, Charleston, South Carolina, Since Mar. 2021.

    Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary on ARTSY, Feb. 2021.

    Art Miami (Special Online Edition) Context Art – Exclusively on ARTSY, Dec. 2020.

    Armani/Casa Building-Axiom Fine Art Gallery; Miami, Florida, Nov. 2020.

    Art has no rules Exhibition; Miami, Florida, Oct. 2020.

    Art Marbella / Marbella Design; Marbella Spain, Sep. 2020.

    Congruence Summer 2020 Juried Exhibition (by Gallerist Bridgette Mayer) – “ILikeYourWork” Podcast, Jun. 2020.

    One Thousand Museum Building-Axiom Fine Art Gallery; Miami, Florida, Dec. 2019.

    10 Cruces Group Exhibition, Cesta Republica - Madrid, Spain, Nov. 2019.

    Axiom Fine Art Gallery; Winter Park, Florida, Since May. 2018.

    Stitch Lab Fashion Show; Miami, Florida, Jun. 2018.

    Contemporaneo Gallery Asheville, Asheville, North Carolina, Mar. 2017.

    Miami Art Week - Spectrum; Miami, Florida, Dec. 2017.

    Art San Diego - Art Blend; San Diego California, Sep. 2017.

“It was a pleasure working with Ana on my client’s commissioned artwork. She was friendly, responsive, and produced a lovely textile piece that was exactly what we had discussed.

… I appreciate that she sources from farmers who care about their products and carefully sustaining their natural resources.

Ana is someone that I am looking forward to working with again—her warmth and creativity make her a treasured resource for my interior design studio!”

—Amy (Bubier) Klosterman
AB Design Elements

FAQ

Thank you for your interest in my life as an artist. I hope this FAQ can answer some of your questions and open up a dialogue.

  • I was born in the State of Bolívar, in the south of Venezuela — a vast, ancient rainforest region where the Orinoco and Amazon converge. I grew up surrounded by landscapes of mythological scale, and by the cultural memory of my Italian immigrant parents.

    Both worlds are woven into everything I make.

    My father, a welder who was an artist in my eyes, taught me to work with my hands and to love deeply. His spirit is present in every piece.

  • My path wasn't linear. It was shaped by years of travel, observation, and a growing need to find a language for what I experienced in nature.

    After studying law, I began a long and intricate relationship with art, experimenting with painting, sculpture, photography and textiles.

    When I established my studio in Winter Park, Florida, I began working with branches and fibers in a way that felt instinctive and inevitable. The trees had always spoken to me. The work became a way of listening and responding.

  • I work with branches of pine, birch, poplar, and aspen, each carrying deep symbolic meaning across cultures and centuries, and wrap them in rare natural fibers sourced from around the world: Mohair from Angora goats, Tibetan goat wool, alpaca, qiviut, virgin merino, sari silk, camel hair, and hand-spun cottons, among others.

    Every material is chosen with intention. The fiber and the wood are not separate from the meaning. They are the meaning.

  • Nature is my primary inspiration — its cycles, its spirituality, its ancient memory.

    I am also inspired by the indigenous cultures of the Orinoquia, by the symbolism of trees across world mythologies, and by artists like Sheila Hicks, whose commitment to textile as a serious contemporary medium has been a guiding light for my own practice.

  • My work has been shown at galleries and art fairs in Miami, Madrid, Charleston, Atlanta, Washington D.C., and beyond, including Art Miami, ESTAMPA/IFEMA Madrid, Context Art Miami, and Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary.

    I am currently exhibiting at the Orlando Museum of Art from June to July 2026. A full exhibition history is available on the Exhibitions page.

  • Yes. Commissions are at the heart of my practice. I work closely with collectors, interior designers, and architects to create pieces that are entirely site-specific and personal. If you have a space or a vision in mind, I'd love to hear about it.

  • I am currently open to welcoming interns and apprentices into the studio. These are unpaid positions designed for emerging artists and makers who wish to gain hands-on experience working with natural woods, rare fibers, and the full scope of a working textile art practice.

    While paid positions cannot be guaranteed, there is genuine potential for the right candidate as the studio grows. If you are passionate about craft, materials, and the making process, I'd love to hear from you.

    Please reach out through the Contact page with a brief introduction and any relevant experience or background.