Modern Stitching on Paper - Karin Lundström

Stitching on paper offers an element of surprise... after all, fabric is the expected background. Combine that with bold colors and geometric designs, and you have the appealing creations of Swedish textile artist, Karin Lundström. I was alerted to her work on Instagram where she goes by the name @karinlunds, and couldn't help but notice the many enthusiastic comments her photos receive.

multicolor stitched paper collage

This post was one where I started saving photos to share, but could hardly stop because as I clicked through her feed each new image pleased me even more than the last. Sometimes I think I've chosen the wrong craft to pursue... spools of richly colored threads are so enticing!

Stitching over Wool on Paper by Karin Lundström

I wrote to ask Karin to tell us about herself and her art.

I live in Umeå in the north of Sweden. I recently retired as a lecturer in textile at the University of Umeå. I have been playing and working with textile in different ways all my life. My work is continuously presented on Instagram and some of it on Facebook.

Layered Stitching over Fabric on Paper by Karin Lundström

Fifteen years ago we were twelve experienced embroiderers who started a group called Fimbria. Our purpose is to inspire new thoughts about embroidery, to develop embroidery, and stretch the limits for embroidery. We give ourselves themes to use as starting points for our exploratory work.

Stitching on Paper by Karin Lundström

About seven years ago we had a theme about Egypt – from Moses to Tahrir. I was inspired by characters carved in sandstone that I saw at an exhibition in Amsterdam. I looked for a material where I could stitch similar characters and found a thick, rough handmade paper that I could tear in fragments like ancient findings.

Framed Paper Stitching by Karin Lundström

A couple of years ago we started to cooperate with a similar Norwegian group and worked with a theme called Where are the stitches? I decided to start my work by looking for the invisible stitches around trees as a warming up. From there I searched for a way of interpreting wonderfully colored aspen leaves that I had photographed some years earlier. After a lot of trying, I remembered those photos and found what I searched for.

Aspen Leaf Experiment - Stitching on Paper
Aspen Experiment

Stitching on paper offers a resistance and at the same time allows me to make long stitches without wrinkling the surface. That gives me opportunities to get new expressions. 

Circular Stitching on Paper by Karin Lundström

I am interested in textile structures and I think that the paper background highlights the stitched structures.

colorful stitched paper collages

This summer the Swedish and Norwegian group will have an exhibition at Västerbottens Museum in Umeå. The theme for the exhibition is Stretching Limits. My approach in that work is about bridges and game boards.

Karin also stitches on fabric... here she is doing large-scale embroidery on linen.

Stitching on Linen - Karin Lundström

She told me she likes to use different kinds of thread. For instance, weaving yarn linen 16/2 or thread for bobbin lace.

colorful stitched wool dot collage on white paper
Färdig 30 x 42 cm

On Instagram, Karin frequently shares photos of works in progress and quick videos that have her many followers oohing and aahing. Have a look to see stitching in progress.


Ann Martin
Ann Martin

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Comments

  1. So interesting to read, Thank you.


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  2. Any idea what kind of paper she uses? It reminds me of one called Indian Village I used to use in college.

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  3. I'm glad you enjoyed the post, Mara, thanks.

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  4. Ann, I am so inspired by this textile artist. Thank you for featuring her art. Pat S

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  5. My pleasure, Patricia, I'm happy you enjoyed seeing Karin's work.

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  6. So imaginative and original!

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    1. It really is! If you are on Instagram, it's interesting to see how her work has evolved since this post was written.

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