Jovencio de la Paz (b. 1986, Republic of Singapore) lives and works in Eugene, Oregon.

The work of Jovencio de la Paz is situated in the intersection of radically different technologies: the loom and the modern computer. They approach this intersection both as a traditionally trained weaver and a digital native. Sharing the same language of binary code, this ancient technology and software are both exploited, disrupted and even undermined in de la Paz’s work. They use the digital TC2 (Thread Controller 2) Jacquard loom to manipulate, hack, confound, and fracture design software to explore and test the boundaries of how cloth is typically conceived. They push design software to the point of rupture or failure, capturing the physicality of these behaviors as the warp and weft of hand- woven textiles. Consequently, the works become irreducibly unique “accidents” or formal aberrations. As such, the material history and conceptual nature of the work reflects and embodies the personal politics and non binary identity of the artist not merely as a form of affirmative representation, but rather as a complex space of potential.

Jovencio (they/them) received a Master of Fine Art in Fibers from the Cranbrook Academy of Art (2012) and a Bachelor of Fine Art with an emphasis on Fiber and Material Studies from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2008). They have exhibited work in solo and group exhibitions both nationally and internationally, most recently at PPOW, New York (solo, 2025); Dallas Contemporary; the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles; Cranbrook Museum of Art in Bloomfield Hills, MI; R & Company Gallery in New York, NY; Vacation Gallery in New York, NY; The 2019 Portland Biennial at Oregon Contemporary in Portland, OR; The Museum of Craft and Folk-art in Los Angeles, CA; The Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver, CO; Seoul Arts Center, Seoul, South Korea; The Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago; Uri Gallery, Seoul, South Korea, Slash Gallery in Seattle, WA; the 2024 Immigrant Artist Biennial in New York; the ICA at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, PA. In 2022, de la Paz was awarded the prestigious United States Artists Fellowship for their significant contributions to the field of weaving. Jovencio de la Paz is an Associate Professor and Head of Fibers at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon USA. 

CV