Olga Prinku
Moldovan/British, b. 1982
Olga Prinku (b.1982) is a Moldovan British embroidery artist who grew up in the Republic of Moldova and now lives in North Yorkshire.
Olga is the originator of the craft known as flowers-on-tulle embroidery, also referred to as botanical or dried flower embroidery, which involves stitching with real, organic materials such as dried and preserved flowers, foliage, twigs, grasses, seed heads, and berries. Her work is a graceful homage to the beauty and wonder of the natural world. Olga’s practice 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.
Olga Prinku (b.1982) is a Moldovan-British embroidery artist who grew up in the Republic of Moldova and now lives in North Yorkshire.
Olga is the originator of the craft known as flowers-on-tulle embroidery, also referred to as botanical or dried flower embroidery, which involves stitching with real, organic materials such as dried and preserved flowers, foliage, twigs, grasses, seed heads, and berries.
Olga’s practice 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.
Her work is a graceful homage to the beauty and wonder of the natural world.
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 millimeter 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.
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.
