My name is Karina Cutler-Lake and I am a Professor of Art at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, where I have taught since 2004. I consider the work I make to be both art and design—for me, one does not exist without the other. My creative interests include textile surface design, screen printing, sewing, letterpress, mapping, typography, weaving, and, as ever, learning about different ways to make new things.​ 

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The last few years have found me working on fabric much more than paper (my first love). The reasons are mundane and complicated, but I think many of us just need to use all of our senses when making art. I've been using Adobe software since 1997 and use technology to set up most projects, but a creative process (which is everything) that never leaves the screen almost always feels unfinished to me. I also like that textiles are a welcoming space for abstract lines, colors, texture, and shapes.

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Everything I make seems to have something to do with the idea of place. I've had a lifelong compulsion to go where I haven't yet been—and to understand how people live in that location. Yet I'm also a confirmed homebody, lucky enough to live in a modest red house on fourteen-point-five acres of restored prairie with a garden that produced the 2023 Minnesota Garlic Festival Best-of-Show. (For the record, I cannot take any credit whatsoever for the last two items.) My 16-year-old self would be mortified that I never left the Midwest for longer than a summer. But we're good, mostly.

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I created this website to serve as an easy way to share quick examples of recent work: if there's anything you would like to purchase or know more about, please don't hesitate to contact me at karina@cutlerlake.com. 

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Please also know that I am always interested in new and interesting projects as time permits. I'm also available to teach workshops on textile surface design (as well as a few other things like mapmaking, graphic design, and typography).

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Anyway, thanks for stopping by. I know that attention is valuable these days, and I appreciate even a little bit of yours. 

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-kcl

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also featured: studio assistants Sammy, Martha, Lion.