Lauranita Katende

My creations are informed by my extensive travels and daily life experiences as a citizen of the world. I’m a textile artist, a writer and a closet drummer. My true self shines when I create!

My Aunt Gladys taught me how to crochet, knit, embroider, needlepoint and sew when I was 10 years old in Newark, New Jersey. I dabbled most of my life, but in 2010, for her 90th birthday, I made her a “memory lane” accent pillow repurposed from her mother’s two beautiful dresses that I acquired in 1977 when Mama Cora passed. That is when I decided to live into my creative side and began to design and construct one of a kind purses, pillows, totes and quilted wall art.

I am inspired by nature, architecture and the textures of global textiles such as authentic mud cloth (bogolanfini), which historically, is hand spun, hand woven, and hand painted by West African female artisans in Mali. What a treasure it is having the opportunity to create items from once single treads, hand woven into fabrics in far away places! Great finds, some of which are vintage, are often recycled and/or repurposed. Hand painted works of art by visual artists adorn some of my creations, whish pay homage to historically significant West African headdresses from the mid 18th – early 20th century