Conversations with Diego Juarez Viveros

Today we’d like to introduce you to Diego Juarez Viveros.

Hi Diego, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Inspired by the beauty of Mexican culture, I create happy, bright and colorful art with Tapestry Crochet. My artistic name, Paquiliztli, which means happiness in Nahuatl, is meant to express a sense of pride, empowerment and happiness through my art.

One summer in 2010, I was knitting on the couch when my mother asked me if I had ever learned crochet. I told her I had not and she sat with me and taught me the basic stitches. I was completely intrigued. I could imagine all the potential projects I could create, given that crochet is a very flexible technique. I went on a search on how I could reproduce images with crochet. And after three years of reading books, watching tutorials and experimenting, I honed my own personal technique.

I posted my work on social media. I was just proud of my work but not expecting much attention. I was surprised when my second piece got so much attention with 3,000 shares and countless comments. I also gained my fair share of followers on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube. That’s when I knew I had something special. Now in 2026 I have gathered more than 50K followers who are inspired by my art and nahuatl language lessons.

Remezcla.com and Vogue Knitting magazine published articles my work in 2014. In 2016, I received the Functional Fiber Art Award in the Los Angeles Quiltshow and Fiber Fest. Dolores Huerta, who is a prominent civil rights leader, wore one of my pieces as the Grand Marshall during the SF Carnaval Festival 2016. La Opinion newspaper, the most widely read Spanish language newspaper, featured an article of my work in March 2022. I have also exhibited my artworks at El Comalito Collective (2017), Bell Arts Factory (2018), and La Matadora Art Gallery (2023).

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
For the most part it has been a smooth road, especially with my most recent success on social media. However, there have been some struggles along the way.

The initial discovery of my own Tapestry Crochet technique took three years to fully consolidate. While there were many tapestry crochet tutorials everywhere, nothing that existed out there quite felt like it represented my vision fully. During my exploration of the technique, I found that the way that color switches were represented by the yarn was too jagged and I wanted to improve the crispness of the lines. So I did a lot of experimentation until I finally developed my own way of designing tapestry crochet charts and crochet technique. Three years laters, I fully developed my technique and I am not able to reproduce artworks with tapestry crochet with crisp lines.

While my social media success has really spread my artwork pictures widely and people would like to buy my pieces, the pricing scheme has been extremely difficult. The pieces that I crochet by hand can range from 250 hours to 500 hours of hand work. Creating a pieces is cumbersome and the general public doesn’t always appreciate the work that it takes. This means that pricing my pieces have been a struggle. I have often lowered the price from what it is actually worth. For this reason, my art creation is motivated by my passion to create, not for its commercial value.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a tapestry crochet artist who developed my own technique that allows me to reproduce images with crochet with crisp lines. While I can reproduce any image, I specialize in creating bright, colorful pieces that highlight indigenous mexican culture. I have made pillows, ponchos, capes, shawls, bags, graduation sashes, and tapestries.

My favorite art piece is called Noyolihtic (Inside My Heart, 2020) which is a cape that represents my life journey. The scorpion is my spirit animal representing my passion and determination. This scorpion walks on a dark road but at the end, the scorpion spreads its wings. The blue and orange contrast is the hot and cold, the up and down aspects of life. Not only that, the cape design gives the elite, grand and proud vibe that I want to exude.

What sets me apart from other tapestry crochet artists is that I developed my own charting technique and crochet technique. I addition, I am the only tapestry crochet artist who names his crochet pieces in nahuatl, the mexican indigenous language with the most speakers (which I am now fluent in).

Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
I would like to thank my mom who taught me how to knit and crochet. When she taught me, she taught me the basics. And later when I showed her my art she was shocked! She said “I showed you how to crochet and you came back with this!” Had she not spontaneously decided to teach me, I would not be where I am today.

I learned a great deal of about tapestry crochet techniuqe from Carol Ventura, author of More Tapestry Crochet and whose online tutorials helped me perfect my tapestry crochet technique. She was impressed by my work and currently owns one of my pieces!

I also want to thank Edgar and Abel, who are also artists, and were the first to see my talent and exhibit my work in their art gallery, El Comalito Collective.

I want to thank Xavier Garcia, who hosts the yearly Two-Spirit Xochipilli ceremony for believing in me and spreading my art by means of his podcast and hosting my first runway show at the ceremony in 2025.

I also want to thank all my social media followers and friends who have cheered me on with their supportive comments!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Paquliztli
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paquiliztli
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@paquiliztli

Image Credits
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