Sculptor Frida Baranek studied architecture at the Universidade Santa Ursula Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She spent 1978-1983 at the Museo de Arte Moderna and the Escola de Artes Visuais in Rio de Janeiro. In 1984, she moved to New York, where she completed her master’s degree at Parsons School of Design in 1985. Baranek worked in Sao Paulo, Paris, and Berlin before returning to New York, where she resides today.

Baranek is known primarily for large sculptural works that incorporate varied fibers and industrial scraps. Her work has been exhibited in the Venice Biennale, the Sao Paulo Bienal, the Metropolis in Berlin and the Museum of Modern Art. Her visit to Island Press was generously supported in part by the Women’s Society of Washington University in St. Louis.