Karen Borga
Fiber Artist
My Collaboration with Nature
Through fleece, fiber, and natural materials, my work emerges through a collaboration with nature.
Studio
Rooted in generations of handwork, my practice explores the transformation of raw materials through weaving, spinning, dyeing, and feltmaking. Each piece begins with curiosity and unfolds through a collaboration between maker, material, and nature.
Fiber
Every piece begins with fiber.
Raw fleece, yarn, and natural materials are gathered, studied, and explored before they become cloth, felt, or finished work. Through observation, experimentation, and making, I seek to understand the character of each material and the possibilities it holds.
These studies form the foundation of my weaving, feltmaking, natural dye, and textile work.
Notes from the Studio
The Part Where I Don’t Know What I’m Doing
There is always a point in making something new when I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing. I reached that point this week with a zipper. I’ve been working on a smaller WOOLBORNE bag, and I knew almost from the beginning that I wanted it to close differently from…
Making Space for the Work
For years I thought a clean studio was the goal. Then I realized something about myself: if my studio is spotless, I’m probably not creating. This past week wasn’t about cleaning—it was about making space for the work by finding homes for my tools, letting go of what I no longer needed, and creating a studio that works the way I actually create.
A Pallet of Possibilities
A gifted pallet of raw sheep fleeces became years of creative possibility. Join fiber artist Karen Borga as she shares the story behind the wool—and why every finished piece begins long before anyone sees it.