Melike Carr

For as long as I can remember, I have worked with my hands. My dad was the most handy and creative person I’ve ever known, and I grew up watching him work in his upholstery shop. He could fix or make anything and nothing went to waste in his shop. He taught me how to sew, cook, use tools, and always nurtured my imagination. Now his shop has become my workspace where I sew and make pottery and journals. I like working with different mediums to keep variety in my projects. This also also allows me to use up my materials a lot more effectively. You may notice some of the same materials across different projects and mediums: old clothing where the fabric is fragile becomes a bookcover or used to create texture on pottery; a random piece of rare fabric or paper is turned into a unique accent on a book or clothing item; smaller books use up paper and bookboard scraps; and the tiniest scraps of fabric accumulate and are added to poufs and meditation pillows as stuffing.