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You can't hold it, but you can touch it

Inspired by bathing as both an everyday ritual and a deeply sensory experience, You Can’t Hold It but You Can Touch It brings textile and wood into a quiet dialogue around water, touch and memory. A continuous patchwork composition in soft aquatic greens is draped over a freestanding wooden screen, creating a sculptural, 360-degree work that can be experienced from every side.



Delicate hand-embroidered gestures evoke the movement of hands in water, capturing fleeting moments of contact, stillness and care. The textile artwork was created by Teresa Nunes using cotton and linen fabrics, including antique textiles. Each fabric was botanically dyed by hand using weld and indigo, with variations in the plant extracts and dye-bath durations creating a nuanced palette of greens. The fabrics were then assembled using patchwork and finished with hand embroidery. The work is presented on a wooden screen designed and made in collaboration with Ricardo Leal. Crafted from sapele, andiroba, maple and walnut, the frame features traditional wood inlay on each side, creating a visual connection with the textile’s patchwork construction.


The piece was originally conceived for The Beauty in Everyday Rituals, an installation presented at Roca Lisboa Gallery during Lisbon Design Week 2026.

 

Photo Credit: Nomas Studio



Seller: Teresa Nunes

This work is offered for sale by the designer through The LDW Edit, a curated platform by Lisbon Design Week. LDW facilitates the transaction and is not the seller.

 

 

Technical Information

Year: 2026
Artists: Teresa Nunes in collaboration with Ricardo Leal
Edition: Unique piece

Materials:
Antique and contemporary cotton and linen fabrics, botanical dyes, hand embroidery, sapele, andiroba, maple and walnut wood
Dimensions:
146 x 220cm
Maker
Teresa Nunes

Teresa Nunes is a textile artist based in Lisbon. Growing up in a full house, with three generations, traditional cloths and sewing were a big part of her life from an early age, and became a way to express herself. Different techniques like botanical dyeing, embroidery, appliqué and patchwork, are often combined in pieces, exploring the tactile qualities of the medium, as well as their pictorial potential. In her process, she focuses on environmentally responsible practices, questioning the circularity of objects and our relationship to them over time. From this perspective, repurposing materials, dyeing with plants and repairing are an important part of her work. Moved by the rich history of textiles, their vital presence in our daily lives and their power as a storytelling medium, Teresa develops projects for different clients and entities, and often teaches workshops.

Designer page
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