Mola: Textile Art of the Kuna People (Part 23)

Practice layered cutting in this art lesson: mola: textile art of the kuna people (part 23).

🎨 Studio Brief #45

Molas are colorful, layered textile panels made by the Kuna people of Panama and Colombia.

🎯 Your mission

Make something only you would make.

⚡ The twist

Don't fix mistakes. Build with them.

What you'll learn

Molas are colorful, layered textile panels made by the Kuna people of Panama and Colombia. Create a mola-inspired paper cut design using layered colored paper.

Get ready

Techniques you'll practise

layered cuttingreverse appliquécultural textile art

You will need

ScissorsGlueColored pencilsDrawing paper

Step 1 of 4

Stack 3-4 sheets of different colored paper on top of each other.

Step 2 of 4

Draw a simple animal or symbol on the top sheet.

Step 3 of 4

Cut around parts of the design on each layer, revealing the colors underneath.

Step 4 of 4

Glue layers together. The result looks like a colorful, layered textile.

Did you know?

🤯 Mind = Blown

🤯 Art rules exist mostly so you can break them on purpose.

🌟 Artist Spotlight

🎨 Every artist you've heard of started with one wobbly first try.

You did it!

Next: Chinese Brush Painting: Bamboo (Part 23)All lessons

🎯

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✨ More to explore

🌍 Where you see this: Art shapes everything you look at — once you notice, you can't unsee it.

🏆 Try this week: Make one piece of art today — even tiny, even messy.

👨‍👩‍👧 At dinner: “Tell me about the part of your art you love the most.”

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Mola: Textile Art of the Kuna People (Part 23)

Techniques you'll practise

You will need

Next Smart Project

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Mola: Textile Art of the Kuna People (Part 23)

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