Willfreed is an Ivorian-French artist based in Vienna who challenges the boundaries between textile art, contemporary embroidery, and modern painting. Using a domestic tool, the sewing machine, he develops a distinctive visual language capable of producing works often mistaken for paintings. His practice explores surface, gesture, memory, and identity, while engaging with an international dynamic of hybrid creation.
A journey between Africa, Europe, and artisanal transmission
First, Willfreed trained in Côte d’Ivoire with renowned embroiderers. Then, he refined his technical mastery for more than ten years in Bamako. This long immersion in textile craftsmanship shaped his patience, precision, and attention to detail.
In 2013, in France, a decisive turning point occurred. Confronted with his mother-in-law’s silk paintings, a question emerged: could embroidery become a true pictorial medium? This intuition sparked an intense period of experimentation. He committed to this path using a simple two-stitch sewing machine, gradually transforming it into a fully fledged artistic tool.
The Mi-Gnêman technique, writing with thread
From this experimentation emerged the Mi-Gnêman technique, meaning “My Thread” in N’zima. At first, the artist sometimes sketches a drawing. However, he quickly abandons this framework to let the machine guide the rhythm and thickness of the line.
Thus, thread becomes the primary material. The weave replaces pigment. The image appears in successive layers. Each artwork requires nearly thirty hours of work. As a result, the final rendering creates a striking pictorial illusion. Many visitors believe they are looking at a painting, when in fact it is a fully textile composition.
Moreover, this approach positions Willfreed at the intersection of textile innovation, visual experimentation, and fine craftsmanship. His method places him at the crossroads of contemporary art, material research, and artisanal practice.
Works between identity, memory, and engagement
The subjects explored by Willfreed tell the story of an artist navigating between two cultures. His creations combine sensitivity, collective memory, and political resonance.
- Les Girafes expresses an unexpected maternal tenderness.
- Le Point de Mandela embodies the strength of a struggle for freedom.
- Gorée refers to the historical scars of African memory.
Together, these works weave a continuous link between the intimate and the collective, giving embroidery a narrative and symbolic dimension rarely explored at this level.
Growing institutional recognition
Invited to numerous regional exhibitions, Willfreed attracts audiences fascinated by the precision of his gesture, often enhanced by public demonstrations of his machine. This proximity to the creative process reinforces the performative and educational dimension of his work.
His selection for the European Artists’ Prize in Venice in December 2025 marks a major milestone. It confirms the growing interest of institutions in a practice that escapes traditional categories and renews the perception of contemporary textile art.
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