Caren Garfen first learned to stitch when she took needlework classes in school though fiber arts ran in her family of stitchers, embroiderers and knitters.
By 1991, Caren began selling hand-sewn miniature samplers for the dollhouses of adult dollhouse collectors when her she perfected her technique and developed a love for tiny stitching.
After Caren earned her degree in Applied Arts, she began memorializing those murdered in the Shoah as an act of remembrance and documentation. Using textiles and found objects, she developed a meticulous, miniature style of hand-stitching that makes visible what history has tried to erase.
Her first major artwork, Stand Up and Be Counted (2019), above, was acquired by the Jewish Museum London. Since then, her practice has reached far beyond the Jewish community. Her works have been selected for textile exhibitions around the world, often in contexts unrelated to Jewish themes. Only recently have institutions focused on the Holocaust and contemporary antisemitism begun to engage seriously with her art.
Her latest exhibition, Fabricated?, was first curated in her home studio in London after Silence – a work responding to the October 7 attacks – was rejected by an art group she had belonged to for 17 years. A second work on a related theme was also rejected. Nonetheless, Caren’s home exhibition ran for nearly six months, bringing together almost all of the artworks she had created over the previous six years.
Through private invitations and word of mouth, a wide range of visitors came to see it. “I met so many interesting and supportive people of different ages and faiths,” she says. “Each person, or small group, received a personal tour and a detailed insight into the work, which made the exhibition feel very intimate and meaningful.”
For Garfen, showing her work to both Jews and non-Jews feels essential. “As a Jewish person, I still need to be reminded of what is happening,” she says. “When I took pieces out of storage for the exhibition, I realized how work created in 2020 was still painfully relevant today. Things have not improved; in many ways they have worsened. That realization reinforces the importance of continuing to document what is unfolding right now.”
Fabricated? is now on view at the National Holocaust Museum in Nottinghamshire, UK. Its aesthetic may appear “quiet” or “crafty,” but its content is intense, challenging “the complexities of the world we live in today, perhaps as a way of making sense of issues that concern me,” Garfen explains. Stitching, she says, is the cornerstone of her practice: the time, patience, and sensitivity it requires allow her to confront injustice and preserve memory through the quiet language of thread and textiles. For her, each stitch is a mark of presence – a refusal to let names, stories, and truths disappear.
Although she began creating works related to the Holocaust and contemporary antisemitism in 2019–2020, Garfen’s Selection memorializes Jewish people murdered from the 1930s to the present day. Since October 7, 2023, her art has become even more urgent. “The terrorist attack in Israel against innocent people reinforced my commitment to stand up for truth against propaganda and disinformation,” she says.
Earlier in her career, she could “protect (her) from the discomfort of the research and the slow, painful stitching process,” but after October 7, that barrier disappeared. “I now find myself sewing devastating stories in real time,” she says. “It has been emotionally difficult.”
The Holocaust continues to occupy a “hugely influential” place within her body of work, and she often senses what she calls “the echoes of the Holocaust” in contemporary events. She was deeply moved by a five-part documentary presented by Stephen D. Smith, co-founder of the UK’s National Holocaust Museum, titled Life’s a Journey: Building the UK National Holocaust Centre. In it, Caren shared Smith’s reflections on cemeteries as places that honor the lives of those who rest there. Speaking about Auschwitz, he asks:
“Where are the names? Where are the dates of birth and the dates of death? Their names were obliterated, and if you do not have a name, who are you?”
Those words, Garfen says, strengthen her resolve to continue memorializing those who have been subjected to hatred and murder simply because they are Jewish. Her hope is that her work will inspire empathy, awareness, and dialogue – not only within the Jewish community, but among all who believe that remembering is an essential part of healing and humanity.
Her art has been received with deep appreciation both inside and outside the Jewish world. “People tell me my work gives them strength and that I must continue,” she shares. “One person wrote to thank me for my art and my support of Israel, saying it helped them feel better during this difficult and chaotic time. Others have said it gives voice to thoughts and feelings they share but may be too afraid to express.”
“My work serves as a documentation of the world around us,” Garfen says simply. “My hope is to create something honest, authentic, and sensitive – that’s all I can do.”
Caren Garfen’s works have been exhibited worldwide and are held in both public and private collections. She dreams of collaborating with an artist who works in a completely different medium “to bring our practices together and create a cohesive whole.”
Follow Caren’s work and exhibitions at www.carengarfen.com and on Instagram @carengarfen
