Katrina Craig
Treaty 1 Territory
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Katrina Craig, Reshape, 2024. Silk organza naturally dyed and painted with coreopsis and beads. Photo: Colin Enquist.
Studio: How would you describe your approach to your medium? What made you choose it?
Katrina Craig: My approach to textiles is experimental, pushing techniques and materials to their limits. I’m fascinated by how textiles evolve over time through staining, wearing, or folding, and I enjoy exploring where textile art meets sculpture. Coming from rural Prince Edward Island with little exposure to contemporary art, I initially wanted to be a fashion designer. But after taking my first fabric dyeing class in university, I fell in love with the material. Textiles' tactile, intimate nature, and their connection to the body is something I’ve taken from fashion and brought into my textile work.
Katrina Craig, I know this forest like the back of my hand, 2021. Wool and linen, 475 cm x 68 cm x 1 cm. Photo: Katrina Craig.
S: How would you describe yourself, personally and professionally?
KC: Personally and professionally, I am incredibly curious. A lot of my creative work stems from asking "what would happen if...", I put a textile in a natural body of water, or turned paper into yarn? Community and connection are central to both my life and my art, and while I often work alone in my studio, my art practice is far from solitary. I often explore common, yet invisible experiences through my work, and I tend to approach form intuitively. My art practice brings out a slow, introspective part of me, which is very different from my usual active and friendly personality.
Katrina Craig, Encroaching, 2021. Vellum, cotton thread and water based pens, 50 cm x 65 cm x 65 cm (variable dimensions). Photo: Katrina Craig.
S: What inspires you?
KC: I’m deeply inspired by material and technique, especially discovering textile techniques and traditions. I can sometimes go off-roading with my technique, and find the challenge of pushing technique and materials to be really engaging, and I also learn a lot about how they work structurally through those experiments. I’m also drawn to how materials have their own inherent qualities, and I enjoy leaning into those qualities, rather than working against them. The natural world inspires me in terms of form, as well as dance, bodies, and movement. I find the rhythm, repetition, movement, and sounds of my studio practice quite soothing, and opens up space and time for the more intangible parts of creative work to happen.
Katrina Craig, Loving You Hurt More, 2018. Paper, cotton and mixed media, 18 cm x 155 cm x 120 cm. Photo: Katrina Craig.
S: What do you see as your contribution to the field of your craft?
KC: My contribution to craft can be found in my use of materials and techniques, and the forms I build, but I think my most important contribution is found in the deep connections I have to the craft community. I’m naturally drawn to community building, both through my art and my work as an art administrator. By sharing knowledge and collaborating and cooperating with others, I feel like it helps everyone grow, myself included. Craft is accessible to people from many backgrounds, and its knowledge is often dispersed person to person. While I learned so much in my formal education, I’ve learned an incredible amount of tips, tricks, and history from regular people who have been working in their craft for longer than I have been alive.
Katrina Craig, The Craftsperson, 2023. Natural dye mordant painting with madder and weld on cotton, 65 cm x 97cm. Photo: Katrina Craig.
S: What wisdom do you want to impart to younger makers?
KC: To younger makers, I would say: relax and have fun with your craft and materials! It’s okay if things don’t always turn out as you imagined and you waste some material. Some of my projects don’t work out, and that’s part of the process. The technical side takes time, so be patient and seek out mentors who can guide you. While not all craft needs to be technical, learning sophisticated techniques can open up more possibilities in your work that you didn’t even know existed.
Katrina Craig
instagram: @katrinamjcraig
website: katrinacraig.com
This article was published in the Fall/Winter 2025-2026 issue of Studio Magazine.
