Artist Statement
This series consists of a whimsical fabric menagerie. I feel a deep connection to the natural world, and often portray animals in my larger 2D and 3D textile art. In this case, I hunted through my stash for fabrics with animal motifs. I cut them out and layered them onto different fabrics, creating little compositions. I embroidered each one by hand, using various stitches and weights of thread. The embroidery serves to unify the compositions and adds texture, colour, and movement. I had fun making these pieces. I hope they spark joy for someone else!
Biography
Carla Paterson is a textile artist from Surrey, BC, who uses art to tell stories about what matters to her: the people she loves, her natural surroundings, and pressing social issues. She stitches by hand, enjoying the process of passing a needle through cloth, and is fortunate to have inherited a love of making and a stash of materials from her mother.
Carla has benefitted from taking online workshops with textile artists from around the world through Textileartist.org’s Stitch Club, and most recently, to have done a VAWAA mini-apprenticeship with the Canadian-Chilean artist, Katy Biele. She is a member of the Arts Council of Surrey and FAN, the Fibre Art Network of Western Canada, and has exhibited through both organizations. She has also contributed to public art projects and is currently making life-size fabric ducks for the Chicago-based project, Bird Collisions in the Anthropocene. She is always excited to take on something new.