laKattun

I am a textile designer and printmaker. Under my brand LaKattun I print my own patterns and designs using silk screen printing, hand-carved rubber stamps or other experimental printing techniques. My work allows me to combine my love of colors, fabrics and patterns. Most of my designs are hand-drawn or hand-cut and find their way on the fabric without using a computer. I always print repeating patterns, one running meter after another.

Since I watched my mum sewing all those funny and beautiful carnival costumes for me as a child out of a big stash of fabrics, I am hooked on the feel, beauty and brilliance of fabrics.

Some years ago the question arose: “Can I print repeating patterns on fabric on my own?”, followed by the question “How can I achieve this?”. This has been the starting point for my work. After much self-education on all aspects of printing I am now in the sixth year of my self-employment. I own a studio with the necessary facilities for hand-printing textiles in Berlin, Germany. I share it with another textile designer and a dressmaker. In this way we can enrich each other’s work with ideas, knowledge, and
equipment.

I love the magic moment when I put up the silk screen or the stamp from the fabric and can see the new wet pattern on the fabric in front of me for the first time. A special charming hand-printed style is being enrolled onto the fabric. A laser printer, by comparison, is just able to produce the same print over and over again. How boring! In addition to creative skills hand-printing on textiles asks for a special set of capacities: strength, persistence, patience and accuracy.

I like to produce textile products of objects and things we use and see everyday: household textiles for the kitchen or the living room, for the kid’s room or the sleeping room. My designs range from abstract, rather formal drafts to more playful and by nature inspired patterns. I design bags, pouches, pillows, tea towels and, of course, fabrics.

The coloring of and priniting on fabric has a history that is thousands of years old. Prolific traditions and sophisticated techniques have emerged. Everything we wear is made of fabric. Fabrics are a profound element of our living. How much attention do we pay to this fact? How are fabrics produced and how do we want them to be produced? How sustainable is our fabric consumption? Many of these questions are relevant for me and my work. So I made a conscious decision to use only certified organic cotton and eco-friendly water-based textile ink in my production process. I am really into the idea of helping peoples to get a fair and proper income from their work, to protect the environment and produce ecologically aware.