THREADING THE NEEDLE

Micah Clasper-Torch is a Los Angeles based artist, designer and educator who is among a new wave of artists specializing in punch needle rug hooking and tufting techniques. Blurring the line between fine art and design, she creates limited edition collections and one of a kind pieces that range from fashion and accessories to wall hangings and mixed media artwork. Micah is also the founder of Punch Needle World, an online shop, community and educational platform dedicated to the art and craft of punch needle. Both her personal work and teaching style are rooted in history and traditional technique, while passionately encouraging modern applications for this craft, and championing its visibility in the art world.

Betty Wood (she/her) is a queer folk fibre artist working at the intersection of craft and fine art. Her wall hangings and rugs are made slowly with hand tools, playing with expectations of scale and materiality. Betty’s art delves into themes of sexuality, gender, mythology, history and natural forms, with pieces centering on the domestic sphere, capturing transient or lost spaces in comforting textiles.

AJ Peterson is the designer, tufting artist, and educator behind Magic Carpets. She teaches workshops in Los Angeles, creates rugs that explore themes of spirituality and queerness, and is passionate about sharing the craft of tufting with others.

I am a fiber artist and I specialize in hand hooked and machine tufted rugs and sculptures. I live in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia with my 8 year old former Nepali street dog, Ganga. I grew up in San Luis Obispo, California in a family that encouraged a lot of crafting. My mom taught me how to knit as a very small child and my grandmother encouraged me to paint and draw in her studio whenever we went to visit. I moved to Canada in 2012 to attend McGill University where I studied Religious Studies and Anthropology. When I graduated in 2016 I moved to Nova Scotia where my love of fibre art was quickly re-kindled. My mom signed us up for a rug-hooking class that summer and what can I say, I was hooked immediately. During the pandemic I lost my job as a bartender and decided to use my first CERB cheque to buy myself a tufting gun, and I haven’t stopped tufting since.

Liv Aanrud earned her B.F.A in painting from the University of Wisconsin—Eau Claire in 2001 and an M.F.A from Rutgers University, in 2011.

Aanrud’s work has been the subject of one person exhibitions at BozoMag, New Image Art, Arvia, 1700 Naud and TSA-LA in Los Angeles. She has also had solo shows at Bay College, Marquette, MI; Finlandia University, Hancock, MI; Sierra Nevada College, Lake Tahoe; Pamela Salisbury Gallery and John Davis Gallery, Hudson, NY; Oasis Gallery, Marquette, MI and Steven Harvey Fine Art Projects, New York City.

Her work has been shown in group exhibitions across the U.S., Taiwan, Germany, and Spain. She has an upcoming solo show at Kravets Wheby Gallery in New York City.

Liv currently lives and works in Los Angeles, California

Katie Berman is a textile artist based out of Durham, NC working within the realm of responsibly-made fiber art. She received her BFA in Surface Design from East Carolina University in 2012, specializing in weaving and fabric manipulation through hand dyeing and printing techniques. She currently explores narratives that celebrate community and our shared humanity through original, tufted wall hangings and fiber sculptures using self taught, evolving methods such as natural dyeing and punch needle rug hooking. Her work has been exhibited at Meredith College, Art Encounters, The Carrack, the Durham Arts Council, 311 Gallery and the Sertoma Arts Center.

Genevieve Lavalle is a textile and fiber artist based out of the Midwest that uses upcycled and dead stock fibers to create her colorful textile pieces.

Hayley Perry is a fourth generation rugmaker using the technique of traditional North American Rug Hooking, where each loop of fiber is hand pulled with a small crochet-like hook. She resides in Massachusetts and has a rug hooking studio and shop called Loop by Loop Studio in Rhode Island.

Rose Pearlman is an artist, teacher, and textile designer. With a background in fine arts and a love of well designed functional objects, her creations blur the lines between art and craft and pushes the boundaries with non-traditional techniques and materials.  Rose’s work has been featured in fiber magazines, galleries, and numerous online design sites. Her book, Modern Rug Hooking, was published with Roost Books in 2019. She lives in Brooklyn, NY with her family.

Adeline is a California based punch needle and tufting artist. Inspired by nature and abstract art, Adeline has created many unique pieces that focus on original patterns and fun color palettes. Adeline continues to explore the world of fiber art by combining punch needling with weaving and embroidery techniques.

Self taught multidisciplinary artist with no formal education in the arts. I have a deep love and connection with textiles as I grew up surrounded by women who sew. The relationship between me and the process of making yarn into a sculptural tapestry is magical. Trial and error is my teacher and my beautiful mind is my power.