Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Ofelia Valeiras (1900–?) came from a family of seven brothers and three sisters. Her father was a shopkeeper and her mother, a very authoritarian woman, led a reclusive life in her bedroom. Ofelia Veleiras belatedly married a herbalist, but then returned to live with her family after the discovery that her husband was unfaithful.

At that time she produced embroidery in a conventional, decorative style. But around 1958 she started to work on jute canvas or silk without a preliminary sketch, finding her own unique mode of expression. She always rolled up the fabric as she embroidered it in such a way that she never had an overall view of her work. Her compositions depict landscapes at the border between figuration and abstraction.

She also made original clothes from wool remnants, which she wore on occasion.