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ABOUT
ABOUT
Varvara is a creative working with concepts of textile waste and storytelling through textile form - for 20+ years - in various formal roles and different parts of the world.
For Sew Sew Good 2.0 Varvara's initial idea was to create a living room in the corner of the shared space of Kasko Gallery (Vancouver, BC, Canada). A Place where objects and artworks are made with reused materials and question our human practices around consumption, consumerism or in broader terms our perception of value and waste.
The artworks were created by Varvara through repurposing her own textile paintings made of wasted materials, old objects into "new" upcycled objects and multilayered paintings - bringing together Varvara's artistic practice and research on concepts around modern fashion production while being a textile artist working with waste in Vancouver area.
Main art pieces of installation cover the time since Varvara met Zoe - the founder of Sew Sew Good Collective - at co-working Space (2017) and where her series "Painting Waste" started with reusing discarded materials of local small fashion brands -
The show at Kasko Gallery (where Space used to be located) became a place of connecting the many stories of Varvara's art practice together.
The idea got a new layer when the installations of the exhibition got affected by constant construction in Vancouver city.
The live installation was only available to experience during the group show time
(March 22, 2025 at Kasko Gallery - Sew Sew Good Show 2.0)
The works are partly available to view until April 21, 2025.
The section below is part of installation. And will be updated with information on pieces as the digital development progresses.
🚧THIS SECTION IS UNDERGOING UPGRADES🚧
new artworks will show up as development progresses
Welcome to my Living room or Artist's sweatshop Installation
Welcome to my Living room or Artist's sweatshop Installation
Every piece of installation is part of my questioning of our human practices, what we value, what we waste, and where do we draw boundaries between value and waste in modern age.
The common "thread" between all objects is a Neon orange color that is often used for street markings around Vancouver to get attention, notify of danger, mark boundaries, or communicate a construction notes between city upgrade teams.
As an international professional, who moves often, I am used to create in my home environment, living room, bedroom, kitchen - bringing initial sources for my work to transform it into art and living objects - merging boundaries of professional and personal, I always co-create either with textiles or objects of others creatives, recutting, reshaping and creating "new".
During the live performance visitors were welcomed to experience my artist world by coming into the space created with my home studio equipment, home library of books, interacting with artworks and objects -- making sense of it from their own perspectives, talking to me about their personal experience of the modern times and how we value or waste fabrics, lives, and time.
Visitors were invited to think on the costs/value of each art object of the installation and share their thoughts with artist in personal conversation or via instagram
Information on individual works is added in sections below
Thank you for considering adopting my art into your home and keeping it from landfill for a bit longer 💚
Please note:
25% of proceeds from sales during the March 22 - April 22 will go to Kasko Gallery (female-led Vancouver local initiative and their donation choice for art causes).
75% of sales are going to OR Collective of Arts
(BC-based non-for-profit society that Varvara recently founded with 2 other members - to support creative initiatives around sustainability of homo sapiens on the planet Earth)
- Gallery Wall
Painting: "It's not waste unless you waste it"
Painting: "It's not waste unless you waste it"
Story
Three layers of cycles of use, memory, and the layered histories within each stage of this art piece.
A reclaimed vintage frame, once ornate and gilded, now bears visible marks of time. A damaged corner, once seen as imperfection, is highlighted—not hidden—by Neon spray paint (Varvara's mark), acknowledging rather than erasing its past.
Within the frame, the original painting has once already been replaced with a painting on a white canvas - a hand-drawn house in nature, signed “Shirley, 98”.
Next layer:
The warp of a weaving are the threads donated by the textile and weaving lab of AALTO University (Finland) - the leftovers of other artists and designers' projects who took weaving course along with Varvara.
Plastic thread that connects the layers of the past with the new one - is the one repurposed from the thrifted frame and painting second edition of a hanging system that was already there when Varvara thrifted the painting at Nanaimo iconic Thrift Store.
This work extends beyond its physical layers and challenges the notion of disposability, asking us to reconsider value, permanence, and the stories that objects carry.
What we decide to discard? What we decide to keep?
And at what point does something truly become waste?
Artwork Details
Reclaimed vintage frame (unknown origin), reused canvas with a painting of a house in nature signed "Shirley, 98",
Experimental weaving by Varvara K. with fabric scraps waste from Fuhr Co. brand production - from Sew Sew Good Show 1.0 (Canada),
yarns leftovers from student projects donated by textile and weaving lab of AALTO university (Finland),
plastic thread reused from the vintage painting hanging system,
Neon construction spray paint - Varvara's artist mark.
Dimensions: 25x21x2.5in
Year: 2025
Signed: front & back
Installation: Classic painting hook system with wire, ready to hang on a nail.
Pick up: at the end of the show time (Apr 24, 2025)
Documents: info paper and certificate of authenticity to be provided on pickup,
collector needs to agree to provide the works for future exhibitions.
Packaging: Textile bag from repurposed materials
Triptych: Fill the frame
Triptych: Fill the frame
Story
Mixed media on vintage thrifted mirrors and frames, neon spray paint, embroidery, textile waste
A meditation on perception, self-reflection, responsibility, and creation.
How do you perceive value?
When you look in the mirror how do you value yourself and your time?
Where do you see your role in a cycle of waste and creating?
See Value
See Value
Vintage frame, mirror, white marker, Neon spray paint (Varvara's mark)
Dimensions: 5x6x1in
Year: 2025
Signed: back
Installation: ready to hang on a nail.
Packaging: Textile bag from repurposed materials
SOLD
Add Value
Add Value
Vintage frame, fabric scraps waste from Fuhr Co. brand production - from Sew Sew Good Show 1.0 (Canada),
yarns leftovers from student projects donated by textile and weaving lab of AALTO university (Finland),
Neon spray paint
Dimensions: Oval width 6-1/2 x height 7 x depth 1 in
Year: 2025
Signed: back
Installation: ready to hang on a nail.
Packaging: Textile bag from repurposed materials
Waste Nothing
Waste Nothing
Vintage frame, mirror, white marker, Neon spray paint (Varvara's mark)
Dimensions: Oval width 6 x height 7 x depth 1 in
Year: 2025
Signed: back
Installation: ready to hang on a nail.
Packaging: Textile bag from repurposed materials
Triptych: White series of Unseen Wasted Textiles
Triptych: White series of Unseen Wasted Textiles
Selvedges: cotton, synthetics, silk
Selvedges: cotton, synthetics, silk
Selvedge is the most common waste in fashion production, in most cases it is cut off and discarded in the garment production stage.
The 3 strips represent three of the most common textile types of materials of year 2017 in fashion industry and Varvara's fashion studio practice: cotton, synthetics, silk.
Trimmings, Selvedges, Threads, and leftovers
Trimmings, Selvedges, Threads, and leftovers
The combination of a common composition of discarded materials during modern fashion production.
This artwork contains all leftovers from Varvara K. studio operation in a year when her MA Thesis at AALTO University on Zerowaste fashion production research was complete.
Wadding
Wadding
The material that is usually hidden in finished garments becomes central in the artwork.
Artwork Details:
Three works in series
Plastic, textile waste, stitched
Neon Paint marks- added at the SewSewGood show Live performance (2025)
Dimensions: 14x14in (each)
Year: 2017 - 2025
Signed: to be signed when sold
Installation:
opt 1: magnets on 2 top corners + the nails with wider top (away from wall)
opt 2: small nails in 2 top corners (to the wall)
Documents: info paper and certificate of authenticity to be provided on pickup,
collector needs to agree to provide the works for future exhibitions.
Packaging: Textile bag from repurposed materials
Painting: "Beauty of Chaos"
Painting: "Beauty of Chaos"
A painting in plastic with all Fabric Scraps Waste of Varvara's Studio projects throughout year of 2024.
Each individual piece of scrap has a connected project to it.
The center piece - orange zipper - is one of the pieces that were provided to Varvara in the 'scraps bag' from FuhrCo brand production to repurpose it to the artworks for the Sew Sew Good Show 1.0.
During the first show it was inside the Inflatable Chair installation.
Story
2024 was a year where my vision to my life / artist path shifted. I saw the beauty in the chaos, I learned to live more intuitively.
I still plan a lot - to be able to combine motherhood, loving partnership, household running, artistic work, volunteering and paid projects. But I always remember that at any moment it can all just stop or the daily/weekly/yearly plans shift a lot with the outside world input. What I can choose is to be curious, loving, and trust that somehow all the decisions I make intuitively or things that happen to me will make sense later on.
These are leftovers from projects I planned and many that happened from a "random" connections and series of events that I never knew would lead to experiences of 2024.
I saw all these little seemingly random events, conversations, connections as something that keeps forming a beautiful picture of my life.
Each piece of textile scrap in this artwork has a story behind, the project or a person connected to it. Nothing is wasted. Every connection, conversation and even leftovers of it are treasured.
🤍 some thoughts on zero-waste:
I try to run my textile studio as zero waste no matter where my studio is located and what projects I'm working on in any particular year.
The reality is even with zero-waste pattern cutting for garments, with art practice that upcycles textile waste, there is always a collection of the random pieces of minimal scraps, selvedges, threads, etc. Especially when your art practice runs along with your domestic love practice.
I collect all the leftovers from the projects + random textiles scraps that end up coming to my studio. This artwork is the studio's scrap "waste" I got by end of 2024.
Artwork Details:
Plastic wrapping, textile scraps, magnets
Dimensions: 17 x 17in
Year: 2025
Signed: back
Installation: magnets on 4 corners + the nails with wider top
Documents: info paper and certificate of authenticity to be provided on pickup,
collector needs to agree to provide the works for future exhibitions.
Packaging: Textile bag from repurposed materials
Experimental Weaving Triptych: "#zerowaste"
Experimental Weaving Triptych: "#zerowaste"
#zerowaste
Experimental weaving triptych
Originally part of “Life Cycle of a Brand” for the Sew Sew Good 1.0 show, this work began as fabric scraps from Vancouver-based retired fashion brand Fuhr Co. Now reimagined, the materials form a new woven triptych—three modular pieces that can be arranged together or displayed separately, be an wall hanging artwork, art object, artefact, or a utilitarian object of use (a hot pad on your table?).
The structure is based on the hashtag: a symbol of digital connection, repurposed here as a physical framework. The original fabric—knitted, layered with wadding, stitched, and quilted for garment production—was cut into strips, sewn into tubes, and rewoven into a new textile.
Each of the three pieces represents a different stage of transformation:
– A monochrome plain weave
– A two-color weave adding dimensionality
– A dual-layer weave, fully interlaced
#zerowaste is both a declaration and a question: What can be done with what we already have? Through experimental methods, this work highlights the untapped creative potential within textile waste and challenges the boundaries between past use and future value.
Details:
double-layered two-color 11x14in
monochrome 11x11in
single layer two color 12x13in
Year: 2025
Signed: label added upon request
Installation:
opt.1 magnets inside + the nails with wider top to the wall
opt.2 place horizontally on a surface
Documents: info paper and certificate of authenticity to be provided on pickup,
collector needs to agree to provide the works for future exhibitions.
Packaging: Textile bag from repurposed materials
Painting "Layers of Freedom"
Painting "Layers of Freedom"
details coming soon
Pins "I care"
Pins "I care"
Each pin is individual and unique.
Each made of discarded racing sail (donated by the sail repair facility in Victoria, BC) and parachute (donated by an individual from LA, California)
You can choose your pin during allocated pick up times in Vancouver (delivery is available)
Painting Waste_Nocturnal Workshop series
Painting Waste_Nocturnal Workshop series
Painting: The end || Not
Painting: The end || Not
In logic, || is the symbol for OR—a choice, a possibility, a refusal of finality.
This painting holds space for ambiguity, transition, and the quiet rebellion against closure.
It asks: Is this the end, or something else becoming?
The answer, like the code, is: true—if even a fragment remains.
RESERVED
Workshop Placard ||
Workshop Placard ||
Workshop Placard |||
Workshop Placard |||
details coming soon
2. Furniture
2. Furniture
Loveseat to escape landfill for a little longer
Loveseat to escape landfill for a little longer
A Loveseat for those still holding here from escaping the landfill.
A fully functioning inflatable sofa-loveseat, that can be just filled with air.
For this installation it is filled with production cutouts and discarded materials of Vancouver-based fashion manufacturing company "Local".
Inflatable Plastic Shell is made in collaboration with Austria-based Architect Thomas Herzig in 2025.
Product Details:
Dimensions when inflated: width 56 x height 35 x depth 35in
Dimensions when packed: 1x1x1ft
The exhibition sample filled with waste or empty price: $2000
Available for pre-order in dimensions that work for your space, reach out art@varvara.ca or via instagram
(execution + delivery time - 1month)
For individual use:
Can be filled with your collection of favorite memorable t-shirts, runners, etc - anything of a significant value to you that is currently not used but you want to save it from landfill - but it's taking space in your apartment. You can put it inside of this transparent sofa and have it featured in your apartment without taking extra space.
For store & brand use:
Can be filled with textile waste from your brand production.
Retired Hero
Retired Hero
An original prototype and first artwork in Inflatable Waste Furniture objects.
It's been part of many installations and events, every time filled with related to the event materials.
It has patches-scars and noticeable aging skin-deformations. Soon ready to retire from his exhibition and functioning career but still holding away from landfill, both itself and the discarded materials that it gets to hold inside.
A fully functioning inflatable sofa-loveseat, that can be just filled with air. But is filled with production cutouts and discarded materials.
For this installation it is filled with production cutouts and discarded materials of Vancouver-based manufacturing company "Local".
Inflatable Plastic Shell made in collaboration with Austria-based Architect Thomas Herzig in 2018
3. Lights
3. Lights
Hanging lamp: "Halo of Light"
Hanging lamp: "Halo of Light"
This piece reflects on transformation, perception, and the hidden wholeness of things we often see only in part. A repurposed lightbulb, suspended from the cord of an old IKEA lamp, glows within a soft light, handwoven textile structure—its shade experimentally woven from discarded tulle, originally sourced from the Vancouver fashion brand Fuhr Co. Once woven for a past exhibition as a farewell to the brand, the textile piece is now reshaped into a new luminous form.
The light radiates from within, refracting through layers of material once deemed as waste, now given new purpose. The rainbow hues shift gradually, much like the unseen full circle of a rainbow, reminding us that light is never lost—it only transforms.
"Halo of Light" invites us to reconsider what is discarded and what is illuminated, revealing that the line between waste and wonder is merely a matter of our individual perspective.
Product Details
Reused Bulb and Ikea cord system in BW color
with the woven tulle cover made by Varvara reusing
Experimental weaving with fabric scraps waste from Fuhr Co. brand production - repurposed from Sew Sew Good Show 1.0 (Canada), and threads leftovers from student projects donated by textile and weaving lab of AALTO university (Finland)
Dimensions: d- 13in , h - 13in, Cord length: 157 "
Year: 2025
Signed: Neon Mark on cord, personalized label will be added upon request
Installation: attach to the wall/ceiling hooks with tulle textile scraps on cord
Pick up or delivery: after Apr 21
Packaging: Textile bag from repurposed materials
Table Lamp: "Fake || Waste || Art"
Table Lamp: "Fake || Waste || Art"
Fake || Waste || Art
Upcycled object | knock-off Nesso lamp, neon spray paint, writing, textile scraps
As a lover of European mid-century design, I came across what looked like an incredible deal on Facebook Marketplace: two Nesso table lamps—one orange, one white—offered at a surprisingly low price. I couldn’t choose, so I decided to get both.
When I arrived, I was handed brand-new, fully packaged lamps—clearly cheap reproductions of Giancarlo Mattioli’s 1967 design for Artemide. I recognized they were fakes immediately, but felt too shy and awkward to say anything. I took them home, and was left with a knot of regret and discomfort.
I felt uneasy owning something that represented the unauthorized copying of a design I deeply respect. But I also didn’t want to throw them away—adding more waste to the system—and reselling them felt dishonest and against my values.
So I made a different choice: to upcycle and transform.
I sprayed the lamp with my neon artist’s mark,
Signed it: “It’s Fake but I Keep It from Landfill”
And added my artist name at the bottom along with textile mark: tulle scraps from Fuhr Co. to the light control panel—part of the same material set used in Sew Sew Good 1.0.
Fake || Waste holds space for contradiction: design vs. knock-off, shame vs. action, waste vs. worth. It's a reflection on the ethics of consumption and the possibility of restoring value through creativity and care.
Was I able to upcycle a fake from waste into an art object - up to you to decide.
Product Details
A knock off design of Nesso Table Lamp or "Modern Mushroom table lamp"
spayed with Varvara's Neon Mark and signed "It's Fake but I keep it from Landfill",
with textile tulle scraps from Fuhr Co. original set of wasted materials for SewSewGood Show 1.0 - on the cord light control panel.
Dimensions: d12in x h9in
Year: 2025
Signed: on the bottom of the lamp + on the packaging
Installation: place on surface, plug to outlet.
Pick up or delivery: after Apr 21
Packaging: "Original" packaging, signed by Varvara K.
Available in 2 original iconic colors: White and Orange
Sold separately.
Work Lamp Set "Still Working"
Work Lamp Set "Still Working"
Iconic Ikea Work Lamp in light grey color,
2 lamps, one original attachment to the wall/table system left, another one is lost.
details coming soon
4. Electronic Objects
4. Electronic Objects
Clocks
Clocks
Wall Clock: Waste no time
Wall Clock: Waste no time
Functioning iconic Ikea design wall clock that is commonly found in thrift stores around the world.
Filled with textile scraps from Fuhr Co. brand production that was used for Varvara K. installation for Sew Sew Good Show 1.0.
The textiles and design object that were once discarded but still trying to not end in landfill.
The hands of the clock get stuck in textile waste occasionally and the "issue with waste" needs to be fixed manually.
This art object clock is a daily reminder that we won't be able to disregard the issue with textile waste forever and at some point we will have to pause all other activities to deal with the mountains of textile waste that is filling our planet and lives.
Product Details:
Wall clock, stainless steel, filled with fabric scraps waste from Fuhr Co. brand production - repurposed from Sew Sew Good Show 1.0 (Canada),
Markers, Neon's spray paint (Varvara's mark)
Dimensions: 32 cm (12 ½ ")
Year: 2025
Signed: back
Installation: on nail, battery incl
Pick up or delivery: available after the show
Packaging: Textile bag from repurposed materials
Shortlife v3
Shortlife v3
The art object by Dries Depoorter for Varvara K.
"A clock to remind you that life is short. ‘ShortLife’ is a small device showing how much percent of your life is completed based on your life expectancy.
The life expectancy is calculated based on average number in your country provided by the World Health Organization (WHO)"
The clock at the installation is not for sale and part of personal Varvara's Art collection.
Programmed for Varvara K. previous installation with following data:
Name: G+V /aug10/
Gender: I identify in another way
Country: Canada
Birthday: 1984-08-10
***If you are around 40 like me your number approximately in 48% and this is where it is showing during the SewSewGood 2.0 show times.
Can be individually ordered with personalized data through Dries' website
TV screen
TV screen
details coming soon
5. Decor
5. Decor
Textile Vases
Textile Vases
details coming soon
Value life/live Flower arrangements
Value life/live Flower arrangements
details coming soon
Door Mat
Door Mat
details coming soon
6. Clothet
6. Clothet
Hanger 1
Hanger 1
T-Shirt "Not My Presidents"
T-Shirt "Not My Presidents"
T-Shirt || DoorMat "Do you Value Me"
T-Shirt || DoorMat "Do you Value Me"
Artist's Work Coat
Artist's Work Coat
7. Library
7. Library
Book Ends: "Stop + Read"
Book Ends: "Stop + Read"
Book ends made with construction blocks donated by Mark George - August Studio Director and Architect - with Varvara's neon marks.
2 in set.
Dimensions: 10-1/2 x 5-1/2 x 2-1/2in
Year: 2025
Signed: on request by the collector
Packaging: in reused paper or in reused textile bag (on request)
Pick up or delivery: available after the show
Value Books
Value Books
A collection of books related to the topics presented at the group show.
Suggested activity:
Sit comfortable on the loveseat and pick to read a page of any book that drew your attention.
Reflect within yourself .
Min duration: 5mins
Not for sale but most of the books can be found for purchase online & will be eventually added here with recommendation links
Varvara's Book "Ready-to-Paint: Co-creation with Little Atists"
This book explores the process of making zero waste collection of garments co-created with children art.
MA thesis for AALTO University School of Art, Design and Architecture, Helsinki Finland .
Digital and Paper version available for purchase
The printed version is on dipslay at Kasko Gallery Library Section of installation until Apr 21, 2025
If you'd like to make a direct donation to OR Collective of Arts to support Varvara's work around sustainability and art
(with 25% going to Kasko Gallery if donation is done through this website and during the show times at Kasko Gallery) then press on heart button ->
Any questions reach out to: art@varvara.ca
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