Check Out Zoë Karlson’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Zoë Karlson.

Hi Zoë, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I am a multidisciplinary mixed-media artist driven by curiosity, craft, and reverence for art history. My work lives at an intersection of fashion, surface design, and fine art, where past and present meet through handmade process and intentionality. I prefer to build with upcycled materials, allowing each piece to carry both memory and new meaning. I taught myself to sew at a young age and always kept as creative as possible throughout my schooling; taking photography classes and whatever I could get my hands on. Both of my parents are self-owned entrepreneurial spirits like myself. My mother has a handmade greeting card company called Lumia Designs that I also help with. My father is a recently retired woodworker, Chris Karlson. He and I collaborated a few years ago, I was very interested in making ‘patchwork’ art frames out of reclaimed and scrap wood from around his workshop. I studied textile design as well for a few years. Today I still have an endless drive to explore all mediums. I sew and paint as much as I can but I have dreams of venturing into more hyper-specific things like: designing sunglasses, music and voice acting, more directive type work, and maybe even baked goods.

Regardless of the product, everything I make is handmade with love in California — For me, art isn’t one discipline — it’s a way of living and expressing identity.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Of course it hasn’t, I struggle with limiting beliefs all the time. Regular life gets in the way every day. Consistency is key. I’ve had to learn not only how to set goals for myself, but how to follow through on them.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I make clothing, I paint, I make silly dancing tiktoks, I make jewelry. I am most interested in storytelling and design/creativity. I express this mostly through my fashion. I am most proud of my grit. My durability and elasticity has always impressed me, my intuition and trust in the Universe.

What are your plans for the future?
I’m always envisioning bigger for myself, and always with gratitude for the now. I would love to design more manufactured clothing, with my textile designs and available in multiple sizes; as well as my one of a kind stuff. It feels an obvious next step for my budding business. I mentioned a line of sunglasses earlier, more directive projects, music and voice acting. Every day is an opportunity to plant a new seed and develop more. I would love to work more with others as well. I work alone a lot of the time and it can be nice to feel like you have more community. Not to mention there is always more door opening through networking.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sucredove.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sucredove
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sucredove

Image Credits
If not taken myself, images are taken by my dear friend Angela Pahoa.