about

THERESA BUFFO
Statement and Bio


Exploring how texture, imperfection, and repair shape the stories materials can hold is central to Theresa's work. Textiles remind us of a time when craftsmanship was more important than consumerism. Gravitating towards cloth that has been worn, touched, or discarded, reviving and preserving materials through mending and layered construction; each stitch becomes a marker of time and attention, offering a sense of grounding that painting alone cannot. By moving between softness and structure—between gesture and seam—her work sits at the intersection of drawing, quilting, and sculpture. Visible mending, appliqué, color bleeds, and loose threads reveal her interest in what is exposed versus what is concealed, how fiber can behave like a drawing tool and paint can behave like fabric. The beauty of the wild natural world that surrounds us, once durable but changing daily, serves as both influence and motivation.

Theresa holds a BA in Studio Art from The Colorado College with honors in Painting and a Minor in Italian Studies and studied Industrial Design at the University of Illinois, Chicago. Self taught in leather work, she stitched custom handbags for small retailers, online and direct to clients under the label bocUe and worked in antique textile conservation for a private collector. Born in Canton, Ohio, Theresa moved South from Chicago with her husband and two sons. She joined COOP Gallery in 2023, building community as board member, curator and grant writer.

theresabuffo.com
@studiobuffo11