Karen Yaremkewich
Karen Yaremkewich was born and raised in Squamish, BC coming from generations of makers; and daughter of the late Hedi Knudsen who was a well known local textile artist, weaver, spinner and knitter. Both Karen’s grandmothers were dressmakers and seamstresses who raised their families in the thirties and forties in Europe. Upcycling wasn’t a coined term then, but it would describe exactly what they did as their way of life. Old things were taken apart and sewn into something new again.
Karen began making functional fabric art pieces under her label, Endure Upcycled Designs in June 2010. She creates handmade, one-of-a-kind, eco-friendly pieces by breathing new life into locally sourced reclaimed fabric waste and materials found at the thrift store. Karen has a passion for making costumes, art wear clothing and upcycled products for theatre and film productions, special events, art galleries and unique shops with a focus on locations within a hundred mile radius of Squamish.
Karen’s pieces have been prize winners at Vancouver Sanctuary Costume Themed Parties including the Tim Burton Ball, Creepy Doll Party and the 4th Annual White Party for her “Mad Hatter”, “Pin Cushion Queen” and “Ice Queen” costumes respectively. She has modeled two of her costume designs for a life drawing night at Home Base Studios called Sketch Night with Laurel Terlesky and worked on the costume team for the local theatre production of The Princess Bride. Recently, she created “Landfill Larry” costume mascot for the Squamish Climate Action Network to help promote the hugely successful Re-Use It Fair on April 16, 2011. Also, Karen has been a recurring featured artist at Bird on a Wire Creations Artist’s Window performing live demonstrations in their store-front window in Vancouver.
“The Green Bride” installation is Karen’s first Squamish Arts Council showing.
Her next upcoming exhibition will be in The Foyer Gallery at the Squamish Public Library called “Wonderland Madness” for the month of July 2011.
Karen Yaremkewich
