FibreLab X Britt Fabello Artist Collaboration
‘Born A Flower’ by Britt Fabello is an ode to organic growth, the flow of time, and the beauty of natural forms
'Born A Flower' hand-sewn series on terracotta PaperTex
‘Born A Flower’ is the name of LA-based artist Britt Fabello’s latest collection, consisting of delicate natural forms hand-sewn onto our terracotta PaperTex, that we co-created with Britt. We began working with Britt in January after coming across her beautiful hand-sewn series ‘Places’, inspired by her creative use of paper and textiles we collaborated to create a limited edition custom PaperTex shade for Britt’s next hand-sewn collection. From the very beginning Britt knew she wanted to work with a terracotta paper and so we sorted the textiles by colour, to create this warm, earthy terracotta shade. In light of the launch of 'the ‘Born A Flower’ collection Britt shared more about her creative inspiration, the slow meditative process of stitching on paper and what she thought of PaperTex as an artist medium.
Q&A with Britt Fabello
Could you please share a little introduction about yourself?
I grew up in New England spending most of my time between Massachusetts and Maine, but I now find myself on the west coast in California calling Los Angeles home. I studied both studio art and graphic design in college, afterward pursuing the latter. I moved to London for the second half of my twenties for a change of environment and to chase some travel dreams. After a couple of years of soaking up inspiration from that new life, I decided I didn’t want to do anything but dedicate my life to art. I picked my practice back up, started to experiment with sewing into paper, and have only grown more in love with it since.
What does your artwork reflect on?
It all starts from the intentionally slowed down and meditative process I take creating my pieces. At its core, the work carries and reflects that. Most concepts behind my work speak to the intricate dialogue between people, their emotions, and the environment. How they’re all tied together. Balancing the connections between the natural world and the human experience while also embodying our deep ties to ourselves and to one another. These are relationships that are incredibly interwoven and encircle our everyday. I want my work to be a reminder of them—how slowing down, and connecting with nature, ourselves, each other, is the very base of our being.
What inspired you to start hand-stitching on paper and what is your favourite part of this technique?
I’ve always been fascinated with texture. I want to create an extra layer of depth in my work and texture is the most natural way for me to carry that. The first time I ever used hand-stitching was for a typography project in college. I created a poster series with each one using a different textural element for the type. I loved the feel of it. I pushed it further in my senior thesis project by creating hand-stitched maps following walks I took that year. Then I didn’t touch it again until I dove back into art more intentionally about five years later. I don’t know how I let it sit for that long. I love that it is unique, and it forces me to slow down. You must take your time sewing paper or it’ll tear. I think that speaks volumes on its own—that the act of my work requires such care, just like our relationships. After doing it for so many years now, I have a rhythm and routine with it. It’s meditative for me. My mind and body need it.
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Could you recommend any UK-based art galleries or art shops you loved during your time in London for aspiring artists looking for inspiration or resources?
I find the best inspiration is outside of galleries and shops. It’s tuning into your world, your rhythm, what makes you different. Art is all about translating that into tactile elements to communicate messages. However, it’s still important to study materials and other artists to enhance your understanding of yourself as an artist. My first one is a bit obvious for London folks—Cass Art. But, I lived around the corner from one when I was getting my artistic footing again and that’s where I first fell in love with discovering and working on a variety of papers. I also love stepping back in time and browsing the pigment colors at L. Cornelissen & Son. For galleries, I enjoy looking for show lists and finding new art/artists that I feel drawn to see rather than focusing on the galleries themselves, but I’ve found White Cube, Goodman Gallery, Ronchini, and Victoria Miro to usually have something special to stop in for. I also recently found Flow Gallery on my last visit back to London. I loved their unique spot and focus on materials.
Is there an artistic medium you haven’t worked with before that you would like to explore in the future?
My brain never stops searching for new ideas. I have a backlog of them that I’m sure many I won’t ever get to in this life. I took some breaks away from sewing the last couple of years when I was experiencing a lot of joint pain from it and needed to do some healing to continue. It really pushed me to think outside the box but also reinforced my love of texture (whether through sewing or otherwise). I’m really aching to find ways to get into sculptural work using paper pulp or other non-traditional sculptural materials that remain in the fiber realm or have a focus on sustainability.
‘Born A Flower’
What is the inspiration behind ‘Born A Flower’?
It’s the idea that behind the scenes we are transforming whether we realize it or not. That every connection to the earth, to each other, to ourselves, that we create deepens our being one moment at a time, slowly becoming something more all-encompassing. My collection ‘Born A Flower’ is an ode to that organic growth, the flow of time, and the beauty of natural forms. Through my meditative and intentional process, the work reveals the subtle complexity of nature’s cycles, where beauty emerges gradually from the layers of time and experience. Each hand-stitched piece echoes those quietly unfolding transformations while balancing the moments of motion and stillness that we go through while evolving. I often envisioned those slow-motion videos of flowers blooming and blood cells moving when creating these pieces. The warm terracotta tones became a mirror for both the earth and the blood flowing through our veins, evoking the dreamlike feeling of dappled light and grounding the viewer in the current of nature’s rhythms. The minimal floral forms and moss-like compositions breathe life into the textural surfaces and speak to our established and growing connections—the places where we find ourselves when we reflect and tune in.
How would you describe the terracotta paper as an artist medium - why has it been so beautiful to work with?
It balances strength and softness perfectly. For many of my sewn works, it's often the thicker the paper the better. The terracotta paper hits that perfectly without feeling rigid and stiff. I love that from its recycling process, you get a bit of color variation and speckled pieces. It’s organic nature and handmade quality is really lovely. You can feel the depth of care that went into creating it. When I’m looking for paper to use, I want it to carry some texture and feel special. I want it to feel like it has a story to it. This paper truly checked all the boxes and felt dreamy to work with.
The full ‘Born A Flower’ hand-sewn collection by Britt Fabello is now available on Britt’s website and you can purchase the Britt Fabello x FibreLab limited edition terracotta PaperTex here.