textile artist · são paulo to london

Words, memory
& feeling,
painted in thread.

I’m Bianca Kau. I draw the ones you love and the feelings you keep, by hand, in thread and watercolour on raw cotton and canvas.

see the work commission a piece
A hyacinth macaw, hand-embroidered in deep cobalt-blue thread with a grey beak and golden eye-ring, glimpsed through soft green leaves.

selected work

A few souls, in thread.

A hyacinth macaw hand-embroidered in cobalt-blue thread with a gold and grey beak.
Hyacinth macaw
A pug hand-embroidered in soft fawn and charcoal thread on raw cotton, set in a dark wooden hoop.
Pug
A grey-and-white rabbit hand-embroidered in soft fur-direction stitches.
Rabbit
A small finch hand-embroidered in golden-orange thread with a red cheek patch and grey beak, in a pale wooden hoop.
Red-cheeked finch
A weaver bird in profile, hand-embroidered in warm amber and chestnut thread with a black beak, on raw cotton.
Weaver bird
A toco toucan on a branch, hand-embroidered in black with an orange beak.
Toco toucan
A bulldog with a gold halo, a memorial portrait hand-embroidered on linen.
In memory
A white cat hand-embroidered in fine grey and cream thread on linen.
The white cat
A vibrant green Amazon parrot hand-embroidered in long-and-short stitch, with red and blue wing flashes.
Amazon parrot
A branch of figs and leaves, hand-embroidered in greens and deep red.
Figs
A beetle hand-embroidered with deep burgundy wings and a pastel blue-and-mint body, ringed by a circle of mint-green beads on natural linen.
Beetle
A monarch butterfly hand-embroidered in orange and black, framed by fine botanical sprigs on linen.
Monarch
A painted bunting, hand-embroidered with a teal-blue head, red throat and orange belly on linen.
Painted bunting
A line portrait of a man's face, hand-embroidered in a single thread on linen.
A face, in line
Yours, next start a commission →

the craft

A photograph becomes a living thing, slowly, by hand.

  1. your photo, studied

    From a photo you love, I read the light and the eyes, and choose the threads to match.

  2. thread by thread

    Hundreds of fine strands in long-and-short stitch, laid the way the fur and feathers grow.

  3. an heirloom, finished

    Framed after many weeks: a piece made to keep, and to hand down.

commissions

Three kinds of keeping.

I take a small number of commissions at a time. Tell me about your piece, and we’ll begin with a conversation.

start a commission →
Bianca Kau in her studio, holding a hand-embroidered hoop portrait of a black-and-white rabbit on natural linen.

the studio

Where the soul takes form, in line and thread.

I was born in São Paulo, Brazil, in 1997, and I now live and work in London, where I founded my studio in 2021. My practice in textiles brings together writing, embroidery, memory and feeling. I begin from the gesture of the hand, exploring how words, textures and states of the soul can take form through line and needle.

In my work, sensitivity and delicacy are never fragility. I think of them as a poetic force and an ethic of making, something that guides both the rhythm of the work and the way each piece comes into being.

My work is rooted in everyday life and culture, and I make it on natural cloth such as raw cotton and canvas, using varied techniques of embroidery and watercolour. I hope the pieces invite a calm and affectionate gaze. These are my authorial works: unique pieces, embroidered by hand, built stitch by stitch with research, dedication and care.

Over time, my pieces have found homes in Ireland, Portugal, Belgium, Brazil, the United Kingdom and Germany. Alongside commissions, I teach needle painting through online courses and private workshops, and it is one of the great joys of this practice to share it.

Bianca

the letter

A letter from the studio.

Now and then I write from the studio: what’s on the hoop, the thread I’m chasing, and the small things behind each piece. Slow notes, made by hand, sent now and then.

On Substack. A quiet letter, no noise, unsubscribe anytime.

say hello

Let’s make
something to keep.

start a commission →

or write to me directly

hello@biancakau.com

Tell me about the piece you have in mind, with a photo or two if you have them. I reply within a day or two.

A blue-fronted Amazon parrot, hand-embroidered in vivid greens with a yellow face, blue crown and dark beak, set in a pale wooden hoop on natural linen.