A World Of Color: 15 Oil Paintings Showcasing Women’s Traditional Attire From Different Cultures

Yael Medrez Pier (b. 1990, Mexico City) has been painting for over 15 years, but it’s only in the past few years that she’s honed the body of work she is most celebrated for today, portraits that merge realism with abstraction and cultural symbolism. “It began with a need to tell stories visually — not just my own, but those of people and traditions around me,” she shared in an interview with DeMilked. For her, painting is a way of bridging past and present: connecting her family’s history of migration with the everyday lives of the people she encounters.

This desire to merge narrative with visual form led her to move beyond straightforward figuration. “Over time, I was inspired to integrate artisanal influences and abstract patterns, to create something that feels both rooted and surreal,” she explains. While her paintings are often inspired by Mexican culture and Indigenous textiles, her vision extends further. She also paints women of other ethnicities, reflecting her deep interest in identity and resilience across traditions. “At the end of the day, I paint all these women because, as a woman, I feel a deep connection with each of them.”

Her creative process reflects this intimacy and respect. "My process begins with encounters," she explains. "I spend time observing and speaking with my subjects, often taking photos and sketches that capture their personalities and surroundings. In the studio, I translate those impressions into large-scale oil paintings. I balance precision in the figures with abstraction in the backgrounds and clothing, where patterns and dreamlike distortions emerge. This merging of the real and the surreal allows me to explore identity, memory, and the inner worlds that exist beneath the surface."

The result is a body of work where textiles aren’t mere adornment but central to the storytelling. In her series "Woven Heritage: A Window into Cultural Richness and Humanity through Ethnic Women’s Pioneering Textiles", garments emerge as vessels of memory and resilience, bold fields of color that radiate dignity and history. Check out some of her amazing works in the gallery below.

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Image source: Yael Medrez Pier