Karen Gadbois grew up surrounded by design, specifically textile design. Her grandmother Clora Tognazzi was herself the child of a seamstress and was a talented and creative artist.
She began her own exploration of textiles with a knitting needle, a sewing machine and eventually a barn loom she bought in pieces and assembled herself.
While a student at the Mass Art in Boston Karen explored weaving techniques which led her to Mexico in the late 1980's to study the craft. This brief trip led to a near 20 year residency in the then small town of San Miguel de Allende.
During her time in Mexico Karen also worked with rural artisans and the local prison population to create goods which would benefit the creator as well as the families.
In 2002 Karen returned to the United States and along with her family made New Orleans their home.
Working in her studio in the Carrollton neighborhood of New Orleans Karen was about to relaunch her San Miguel store duo duo , but that work came to a halt in 2005 when Katrina forced her from her home and studio.
With her studio in shambles after Katrina, Karen founded The Lens, a nonprofit news room located in New Orleans, all the while continuing to rebuild her textile design practice.
Investigative journalism and a rigorous art practice share much of the same instinctual behavior Gadbois says " they are both an exercise in investigation, which may lead to some unexpected outcomes"
Recent projects include setting up a dye studio in Mississippi and exploring the various methods of natural dyeing as well as indigo dyeing creating each piece in small batches.
She also creates one of a kind knits and recently has begun a collaboration with her daughter, Aida Schooler a 2013 graduate of the Kansas City Art Institute. This embroidery project has resulted in a series of “Dish Towel Portraits”
Karen continues to develop relationships with artisans in Mexico and often combines their work with her own to create a complimentary hybrid.
While living in New Orleans full time, Gadbois also maintains a home in the Homochitto National Forest in Crosby, Mississippi.
She shares a 10 thousand square foot schoolhouse with other artists, where she continues to push the boundaries of the medium, printed, woven, knotted, dyed and felted. And endless array of options and challenges are what drives this artist.
You can follow her on Instagram @karengadbois
or email karen.gadbois@gmail.com
