Embedding memories in cloth
- Karen tells stories through textiles using weaving, dyeing and embroidery
- Her narratives focuse on her ancestry and broader African American history
- She was named an American Craft Council Fellow in 2022
Growing up in a home filled with modern décor, Karen Hampton longed for old things and began collecting vintage linens as a teenager. Over time, she realised she could stitch them together to create narratives and expand on the stories they carried. Later, while attending graduate school at UC Davis, Karen found herself working in a medium with few Black artists, searching for a sense of community. She channelled her questions into her studies, using a research fellowship to visit plantations and other historical sites in the Southeastern USA. The pieces Karen made in response to that visceral experience were an early expression of the path she would take going forward, using all of her senses to share stories of identity, slavery, kinship, resistance and resilience.
INTERVIEW
My grandmother had been a seamstress in New York and I learned from her, making doll clothes to begin with. I became very proficient as I went through school. In my last semester of high school, I took a design craft class and learned how to weave. I had an epiphany that I could do this for the rest of my life.
I found it really healing. The act of weaving was the beginning of my understanding that moving my hands and being able to talk at the same time was cathartic. It would let my mind go and rest, and it was an amazing healing tool.
I want to share different modes of communication and encourage people to let themselves feel. I believe the only way we can heal the earth is to tell stories, and people need to feel safe to do that. Only by sharing space and telling stories can we build tolerance and acceptance and be able to live on the same ground.
In the early days, I had to give myself permission to not make money. It had to come from a place inside where it was my true art. I had no idea if anyone would be interested in what I was doing. I did it because I felt like I had to do it. The most important thing for human beings is to have creative outlets to live fulfilled lives.
