Olga Prinku
Moldovan/British, b. 1982
Olga Prinku (b. 1982), Moldovan/British embroidery artsist and originator of the craft known as “flowers-on-tulle” embroidery.
Olga grew up in the Republic of Moldova and now lives in North Yorkshire, where the surrounding countryside provides both inspiration and materials for her work. She stitches with dried and preserved flowers, foliage, grasses, twigs, seed heads, and berries to create delicate floral patterns and bio-tapestries. Her practice is a homage to the wonders and beauty of the natural world. Olga’s work is deeply rooted in nature, circularity, and traditional craft.
Entirely self-taught, she developed this unique art form through exploration of both technique and material.
Olga uses a variety of methods to attach her botanical materials, including stitching and weaving the stems, some as fine as a third of a millimetre wide. It’s an intricate, meditative process that requires immense dedication, precision, and an intuitive sensitivity to the breaking point of each fragile element held between her fingertips.
Often working freestyle, Olga allows the plants to guide her hand, shaping the composition organically as she responds to their natural forms and rhythms within the space. Through delicate compositions, she reflects on the fragility and resilience of nature, inviting us to consider our relationship with it in new and meaningful ways.
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Sweet Embrace, 2025 -
Branchscape (Gazing), 2025
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The Crown, 2025
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Under the Watchful Eye, 2025
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Branchscape, 2024
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End of Summer, 2024
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Embrace, 2025
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From Within, 2024
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Untitled, 2023
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Untitled, 2022
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Untitled, 2022
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Untitled, 2022
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Untitled, 2022
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Untitled, 2021
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Untitled, 2021
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Untitled, 2021
Olga Prinku (b. 1982, Moldova) is the originator of the craft known as “flowers-on-tulle” embroidery.
Olga’s first book, Dried Flower Embroidery: An Introduction to the Art of Flowers on Tulle, was published by Quadrille in 2021.
In recognition of her unique contribution to contemporary craft, Olga was a finalist in the QEST Sanderson Rising Star Awards in 2024 and the SCAF Emerging Artist Awards in 2023. Her work has been featured in the Michelangelo Foundation’s Homo Faber Guide since 2022, and her craft has been exhibited nationally and internationally.
In 2024, she had her first solo exhibition at the National Trust property Hidcote in the Cotswolds. She has been part of group exhibitions at venues including Collect and Future Icons Selects in London; Homo Faber in Venice; and the Bedford Gallery in Walnut Creek, California.
She has been a mentor for the Hand & Lock Prize for Embroidery for the last three years, and a guest tutor at the Métiers d'Art Embroidery Fellowship at Highgrove.
Olga's works are held in the Aga Khan Centre Collection in London and in private collections in the UK, USA, Belgium, and Panama.
Artist Statement
"My work explores cycles of growth, care and renewal through the use of foraged and grown botanical materials stitched and woven into fabric. Each piece is a meditation on how nature combines fragility and resilience, drawing attention to natural elements that are often overlooked yet essential to sustaining life.
Technically my focus is material investigation and innovation in the context of embroidery and textiles, exploring the boundaries of what can be achieved using real organic material as my metaphorical thread. I combine plants - including twigs, seeds, seed heads, dried and preserved flowers, foliage, grasses and berries - with tulle fabric to create bio tapestries.
The branching structures and circular forms in my work reference shelter and protection, and echo patterns visible everywhere in nature - from the rings of trees to roots, veins, and the contours of landscapes. The balance between organic irregularity and geometric order reflects my interest in nature’s inherent structure and humanity’s instinct to seek harmony within it.
There is also a strong connection to femininity and fertility in my practice. It draws on the patient and attentive processes of embroidery, historically tied to women’s domestic labour and excluded from fine art hierarchies. Tulle fabric, associated with bridal wear, becomes the backdrop for organic elements - from acorns to dandelion clocks - that carry future life within them.
Situated in dialogue with land art, ecological art, and ecofeminism, my work treats nature as a collaborator, not a subject. It aims ultimately to invite reflection on our relationship with the natural world and ensuring life’s continuity."
