About the artist
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Eve Jacobs-Carnahan makes knitted sculpture exploring themes in democracy. She uses the comforting quality of yarn and the charming attraction of birds to tell allegorical stories about society. Found objects punctuate her sculptures. Intricate knitted surfaces contrast with fabrics and mulberry paper.
Eve’s work has been exhibited throughout the United States, receiving regional and national awards. Her work appears in Lela Nargi’s survey of knitted art, Astounding Knits! 101 Spectacular Knitted Creations and Daring Feats. She loves the notion of knitting as a daring act. In 2021, she was named a Creative Community Fellow: New England by National Arts Strategies.
When not in her studio, she can be found birdwatching, digging in her garden, or cross-country skiing through the woods.
Eve knit away stress while earning a B.A. in History with Honors from Swarthmore College and a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School. She lives in Vermont.
Why knitting
My mother taught me to knit as a young girl. I loved making something with my own hands. And I really loved visiting yarn stores where I could choose balls of wool from shelves upon shelves of rainbow colors. Then, as now, I was fascinated by the intricate patterns, textures, and lace designs that can emerge from structured grids of knitting stitches.
To use knitting in sculpture is to highlight the artistic quality of a mundane domestic practice. It is surprising. It piques curiosity, It pulls you in to look more closely. Its unassuming quality enables me to raise serious questions in a quiet voice. Knitting evokes comfort and caring – sentiments that we should apply to the world around us.