Feliciano Centurión was born in San Ignacio in southern Paraguay, an environment defined by the coexistence of indigenous Guarani and Catholic cultures, and lastingly affected by the devastation of the Triple Alliance War, in which 90% of the male population were killed. Centurión was raised by his mother and grandmother, from whom he learnt the crafts of sewing, crochet and ñanduti (a Guarani word for ‘spiderweb’), a handmade lace based on styles imported from the Canary Islands during colonisation.

Working in post-dictatorship Buenos Aires in the 1990s, Centurión became a core member of the Arte Light group, whose work took a turn away from the socio-political to focus on the intimate and subjective. Centurión’s textile work paid homage to Guaraní weaving techniques and historically feminine crafts, queering traditions passed down from mothers to daughters in Paraguay for generations, and drawing upon the functions and the poetic values of textile: sewing as a means to repair; textile craft as a therapeutic act; blankets and pillowcases as objects of comfort.

Following his HIV diagnosis in 1992, he began making a series of ‘frazadas’ or blankets, on which he often embroidered his own poetic reflections or painted symbols. He worked with cheap, synthetic blankets used for household packing and for shelter by the homeless, cutting and reframing these materials with satin trims and adorning with his paintings. This work features an eye, which can be interpreted as a symbol to ward against evil and offer protection, and a view into the soul.

Speaking about his 'frazadas' in 1990, the artist wrote 'It is essential that we "choose" the materials with which we work. Our consumer society offers us an infinite selection that we can "appropriate" to make "new objects" with which we can live. But once we decontextualise them, assemble them, paint them, or assail them, they reveal that they passed through our feelings.'

Another work from the ‘Mirada [Gazing]’ series is presently featured in the exhibition ‘Unravel: The Power and Politics of Textiles in Art’ at the Barbican Gallery, London and travelling to the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2024).