Tulle speaks volumes to Argentine artist Ana María Hernando.

Thousands of yards of the delicate netting decorate the walls and floor of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College.

Hernando’s “El intento del agua/The Intent of Water,” a creation of tulle and velvet, cascades like a waterfall, all shades of blue, from where it hangs on the gallery wall, and pools on the floor, its fabric arranged just so.

In a nearby gallery, the Denver-based artist, wearing bright orange sneakers and magenta lipstick, watches as a team of four carefully transports and hangs her large-scale floral installation, “Flor presagiada por el agua/Flower Foretold by Water.” The painting will hang in a darkened space, accompanied by a piece of music created to evoke flowing water.

“My work is a lot about the voice of the feminine, and that power doesn’t have to be harsh or violent or make others feel less for you to be powerful,” said Hernando, who moved to the U.S. from Buenos Aires four decades ago. “There is an element of softness and a gentle element about this kind of power, and a care for others and a perseverance. This knowing of to become better people requires work.”

Her first Colorado Springs exhibit, “Ana María Hernando: Cantando Bajito/ Singing Softly,” will open with a free reception Friday and run through July 3.

WHO IS HERNANDO?

A lifelong artist who knew she was a creative at age 4, Hernando moved from Argentina to the U.S. for love, she says, and eventually wound up with her three children in Boulder three decades ago before moving to Denver.

Originally a painter, a quarter of a century ago, she began to focus on the feminine and the “invisibility of what culturally has been women’s work,” she says about the day-to-day care of children and home. “The kind of work that’s many times not acknowledged by society, and also not a capitalist society, where if you’re not producing money, it doesn’t count.”

At the same time, Hernando returned to the textile roots of her family. As a teen, she spent her summers working in her grandparents’ textile factory in Buenos Aires, fascinated by how a piece of clothing is made, and how many people it takes to make it happen.

She began incorporating the feminine into textiles and embroidery, and working with groups of mostly women, including Carmelite nuns from the Convent of Santa Teresa de Jesús and their families in Buenos Aires, who helped stitch pieces for her installations.

Her works have been seen around the world, including last year’s Art Basel in Miami, a prestigious premier art show.

WHY TULLE?

A decade ago, Hernando discovered her passion for working with tulle, the delicate netting often associated with ballerinas, brides and princesses. It became her muse.

“(Tulle) talks about a kind of archetype for women, where the message is you’re better off if you give your power to someone else,” she said. “If you stay naive and innocent and beautiful. I rebel against that notion.”

There’s a method to her tulle madness. The fabric is a way to convey that power in softness of which she speaks.

“I bring it in such an abundance. I want to make the statement of an unstoppable amount of giving but also presence, where the feminine is present without a doubt, and it’s just flowing into our lives,” Hernando said. “We all have some of the masculine and some of the feminine, so I’m not talking only about women but everyone.”

THE MEANING BEHIND THE EXHIBIT’S TITLE?

Singing softly is that kind of singing you do for yourself, when you’re not thinking of an audience, Hernando says. It’s the kind of singing someone does while going on a walk or taking a shower.

“It’s the kind of singing that is full of joy. I feel the whole nation seems to be so worried, so at the edge of a precipice of not knowing. It feels chaotic,” she said. “And the state that you are when you are singing in that way is a relaxed way. So I wish more of that for all of us. It doesn’t matter where you are on the spectrum of your thoughts; there’s an anxiety this society has, and I want to address that with this show.”

IF YOU GO

What: “Ana María Hernando: Cantando Bajito (Singing Softly)”

When: Free opening reception 5-8 p.m. Friday, runs through July 3

Where: Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College, 30 W. Dale St.

Price: $5-$10, free FAC members, pre-K and younger, college students with ID, CC faculty, staff and students; fac.coloradocollege.edu