Maria Radilla

Maria Radilla (b. 1969) is a Bay Area artist working primarily with fiber, textiles, and painting. Since joining NIAD Art Center in 2005, Radilla has produced dozens of intricately embroidered quilts inspired by the dolls, fashion, and gardens of her childhood. She describes how these memories inform her practice: “When I was a child, I had one small doll. She wore a yellow dress and the skin was brown like mine. There were many flowers on the land where I lived in Mexico when I was growing up there. There were red flowers in the fields close to me… At NIAD I’ve made dolls in yellow dresses with red flowers on them. I sewed the flowers on the nose and others on the chin and both cheeks. I like work made by women and about women, and I want to see more of that.”

Radilla has been featured in numerous exhibitions around California, including those at Sonoma State University Art Gallery, Et al. Gallery, Eddie Rhodes Gallery, 120710 Gallery, Marin MOCA, Los Angeles Public Library, and the Oakland Museum of California. Her work in in the permanent public collection of the Regional Center for the East Bay in San Leandro, CA. In 2025, her hand-embroidered garments were featured in The Art of Fashion, the second iteration of the Karl Art Fair at Levi’s Plaza in San Francisco.

I started creating art at NIAD in 2005, and since being here I’ve learned how to make dolls and embroider quilts in my own style. I’m inspired by my childhood in Mexico, fashion, food, flowers, and traditions where we give and receive gifts. These are the things that I really love.

When I make artwork with fabrics, I think about my experiences: growing up, I had dolls and played with them in fields of flowers by my home. I love flowers that are red or yellow or white. I also look at a lot of books, especially a big book of colorful birds and a catalogue filled with pictures of beautiful old dolls. I go through the images and pick a different doll to embroider onto a quilt or make into my own doll. I’ve also made dolls based on figures in paintings, like the people in Goya’s paintings of the Spanish courts.

I see the images of dolls and people wearing elegant clothing and it reminds me of getting dressed up for big parties with my family. I love fashion and I’ll remember clothes I’ve seen at shops when I’m designing outfits for my dolls. Flower dresses are so attractive and stylish. I give my dolls aprons because I like how people use little aprons when they work in their kitchens or at restaurants. I think about food while I’m working, so my dolls sometimes wear the clothes that people wear when they’re preparing food.

I draw and sew everyday. I’m really proud of my past work, and I’ll refer to photos I’ve taken of older projects to come up with more ideas. I’ve made many scenes where there is a little doll surrounded by birds and flowers; each time, I’ll put a flower in the doll’s hair.

I love when people have my art in their homes. I love how people love everything I make.