karin carlander
STUDIO VISIT
7115: Karin, thanks for chatting with us! Let’s start with an important part of every creative’s daily life—routine. How does each day start for you? What do you do before the workday begins, and at the studio to help you feel prepared to create?
Karin: First thing I do is to bike to my workshop through the beautiful landscape of Dyrehaven north of Copenhagen. At my workshop, I make coffee and plan my day.
7115: When you began weaving at age 19, what initially drew you to the craft? Since then, how has your approach to weaving evolved?
Karin: I started weaving already as a teenager. My parents gave me a small loom when I was 12-13 years old. I knew early that the loom would become an important companion in my life. At the age of 19, I went to Provence to learn from the French weaver Jacqueline de la Baume Dürrbach, who worked with Picasso to create tapestries based on some of his paintings. She was a very strong woman. From her, I not only learned weaving; I also learned about life as an artist. I returned to Denmark and graduated in 1987 from the Danish Design School in Copenhagen (now the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Design), with an MA in textile design.
At 7115, we believe that every object tells a story—of the hands that crafted it, the materials that shape it, and the quiet moments it accompanies in everyday life. Few embody this philosophy as deeply as Karin Carlander. A designer, artisan, and weaver based in Copenhagen, Karin approaches her work as both an exploration and a meditation. Her handwoven textiles feel alive, imbued with subtle textures and natural tones that reveal her deep connection to both craft and materiality.
Tucked away in a serene workshop outside Copenhagen, Karin’s creative space is a haven of rhythm and focus. Looms stretch across the room, threads in earthy tones are neatly arranged, and the soft hum of her weaving fills the air. It’s a space where tradition and contemporary sensibilities intertwine, mirroring the essence of her work.
For this Studio Visit series, we had the privilege of stepping into Karin’s world, where time slows down, and every thread carries intention. Join us as we uncover her journey—how she finds inspiration in imperfection, roots her process in tradition, and creates pieces that feel both timeless and deeply personal.
7115: Your studio space is filled with unique machinery and tools. Could you share a bit about the specific machines you rely on? How do they impact your process, and what role does each play in creating the pieces you’re known for?
Karin: I bought my first big loom around 1990 from an old weaver who wanted to retire. She and her husband spent a lifetime hand weaving textiles for luxury ships, and the old loom was still strong. Since then, I have received wonderful looms from people who appreciate that I am still working on the analogue looms. They are all made in Denmark by the company named Lervad. The company does not exist anymore but they made the best analogue looms.
Each of my looms has its own personality. There is the strong one that has followed me during a lifetime, the small one that does not know it is small and therefore has fantastic dimensions, and the one from my old school where I am educated. I like weaving on all of them.
7115: How does the concept of “slow design” shape your studio?
Karin: There is an appealing sense of achievement in constructing and creating an object from scratch. Anyone who masters a craft holds tacit knowledge that is conveyed through one’s hands and by example. Many of the old crafts are disappearing today, and that makes us poorer, I think. Craft-based objects are created at a pace that leaves room for reflection, and that gives us a deeper understanding of and respect for how the objects we live with are made.
7115: Your woven pieces are beautiful, functional everyday pieces made to last. In a way, they romanticize the everyday chores and activities they’re designed to weather. What is it about daily, repeat events that intrigues you?
Karin: I work with functional textiles, because I think that the objects we handle in connection with everyday chores and activities should hold artistic value. I hope to make you wonder and smile when you discover that there is a little hidden pattern in the fabric when you hold your tea towel up against the light to dry your coffee cup. Or that the table napkin that is folded up in your bread basket has a different colour intensity than it did when you took it out of the drawer. Or that a new pattern emerges in your bath towel because the sun falls through your window right now, and the textile plays with the light—and with you.
7115: You’ve spoken (in other interviews) about nature as a key source of inspiration. When concepting a new piece or series, how do you translate inspiration (from nature or elsewhere) into something tangible?
Karin: I am fascinated by rhythm and light.
The word ‘rhythm’ comes from the Greek ‘rhuthmos’, meaning measured; recurring movement; flow; proportion.
Light is an immaterial presence in nature that continually reshapes physical form and brings life and movement to our surroundings.
When I work at the loom, I try to recreate some of the moods I experience in my everyday life—not as specific forms, but as reflections on moments in time.
Weaving is a repetitive craft. The basic logic of our digital systems is inspired by the logic of the loom. In many ways, weaving is like coding. Threads are raised, threads are lowered, and threads are passed through in a process framed by carefully planned systems. The loom repeats these codes, just as a computer does. That may not sound intuitive, but it is. It is a world of possibility and surprises that brings daily rewards and challenges.
I see my patterns as rhythms. My practice revolves around etudes, the musical practice of refining a specific technique; fugues, which are tunes first introduced in a single voice and then repeated in a transposed form by other voices; staggered syncopated rhythms; and simple synchronous and parallel rhythmic sequences.
Playing with rhythms and light requires careful planning. I use very thin yarns to create smooth, subtle colour transitions. Relying on the inherent logic of the loom, with a small number of shafts and treadles, and the intrinsic qualities of colours, I combine the coding of the loom with rhythmic shifts across different systems. Using the loom's own logic with few shafts and treads, on the premise of the weave and the colours.
7115: You have quite a few exhibitions behind you. Can you describe the creative process you go through in preparing for an exhibition? How long does it usually take, and what does that journey from initial concept to exhibition reveal about your work?
Karin: I first started by studying the floor plan of the exhibition space, working with the proportions for the textiles. Next, comes the work with the colours and the balance of size and colour. As a weaver you need to plan your work on a general level early in the process. You must order yarns, you need to plan the dyeing of the yarns, you need to know the thickness of the yarns. All this before you start the weaving process. When I weave I have not planned everything. I give room for the unexpected and intuitive that arises in the collaboration with my loom and my yarn. I must weave all my artworks myself as this part of the process is very personal to me. I need full concentration during the working days.
7115: Japanese craftsmanship, which you learned about while studying abroad in Japan during college, is another notable source of inspiration for your work. How does Japanese craftsmanship continue to inform your work, and how do you marry it with Nordic crafts?
Karin: First and foremost, their respect for professionalism. A deep understanding of materials and attention to detail and their love for our everyday tools, so that our daily routines and lives become richer and give us small artistic experiences along the way. They also have an old and still living costume culture, which gives them a different approach to clothing, which I find fascinating in the street scene. This applies to both men and women. Marrying this with my Nordic crafts is a difficult question to answer. I am deeply rooted in my Nordic culture and my aim is to reinterpret the textiles I have grown up with by putting them into a contemporary context.
7115: What’s next for you and Textile No.?
Karin: I have new and challenging projects in near future. Please follow my instagram or website and you will see!
Karin Carlander
www.karincarlander.dk
@karincarlander.dk
Studio
Raadvad 40
2800 Kgs. Lyngby
Denmark
Our conversation with Karin inspires us to consider the artistic value of everyday objects. How might we create space in our daily lives for “small artistic experiences”, moments of delight and surprise in the routine? The stories that Karin’s weavings tell of craft and dedication connect us to the wonder in our own lives—if we would look a little bit closer, with a little more curiosity.
