Mingna Hu

For her, textile is a way of thinking through making. It embodies a deep dialogue between the mind and the hand, and the interplay of materials and structures – the intrinsic properties of fibers, the construction of yarns, the interaction of colors, the use of various bindings, and the skills, intuitions, and creative judgments that bring a textile to life. 

She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Art and Design and a Master’s degree in Textile Design from the Swedish School of Textiles, University of Borås. She is currently pursuing a PhD at Malmstens, Linköping University.

Her earlier practice was shaped by more than a decade of engagement with living textile craft traditions. Through long-term field research in regions such as Guizhou and Yunnan in China, she learned directly from artisans in remote villages, documenting techniques and collecting textile samples. Close, sustained work with materials and processes cultivated a deep respect for embodied knowledge and material sensitivity.

Building on this foundation, her current practice has evolved toward contemporary textile design and practice-based research. She now focuses on material behavior, structure, and form generation through weaving, working primarily with natural fibers. By activating intrinsic material properties—such as twist liveliness, elasticity, shrinkage, and responsiveness—within woven structures, she explores how textiles can become self-forming and adaptive systems. Her work embraces experimentation and emergence, positioning making as both a method of inquiry and a way of thinking, where textiles remain an ongoing dialogue between material, structure, and form.