20 × 26 in | 51 × 66 cm

Upcycled machine-woven jacquard leftovers from Yuri Himuro Textiles (Tokyo, Japan)

Vintage threads from La Manufacture (Lille, France)

Yarns from Liudmila Norsoyan (Japan)

Backing: Reclaimed textiles from Our Social Fabric (Vancouver, Canada)

Hand Stitching, Spray paint, Acrylic paint

Frame: Canadian red oak by Rustic Burl & Co. (Ontario, Canada)

Signed by stitching at the back. Hanging system.

At its foundation is jacquard textile “waste” from a collection by Japanese textile designer Yuri Himuro, a friend and colleague from Varvara’s time at AALTO University (Helsinki, Finland). Their shared research on storytelling and sustainable textile innovation continues to shape their artistic practices today. In 2018, Yuri gifted these jacquard remnants to Varvara, and they traveled from Tokyo to Vancouver.

Varvara stitched the layers using sashiko embroidery during family camping trips along the beaches of Vancouver Island, imbuing them with quiet hours of care, love, and connection to land and family.

Before the pandemic, a layer of white paint was added, placing the piece into hibernation—mirroring both societal shifts and the teenage years of Varvara’s eldest child, who kept it in their room at their newly found family home on Vancouver Island.

In 2024, as Varvara’s family life shifted once again, the artwork evolved. New layers emerged: vintage yarns from La Manufacture (a historic weaving museum in Lille, France, found during her art residency) and innovative knitted fibers by Liudmila Norsoyan—a pioneer in textile engineering and a collaborator in Varvara’s Japan-Russia projects, whose legacy lives on in the materials she created. These fibers, carried across continents and years of relocation, were woven into the piece, continuing its transformation.

Now, as Varvara’s eldest child embarks on their own independent journey, "Yuri" is also ready to find its next home. This artwork embodies themes of female domestic love, community connections near and far, and the honoring of materials that would otherwise be discarded—treasuring every thread and fabric scrap, as well as the human labor, time, and stories woven into each material.

It awaits a collector who shares these values—ready to carry its story forward with care and love.

Varvara holds a Master of Arts from AALTO University of Arts, Design, and Architecture (Helsinki, Finland), specializing in textiles, fashion, sustainability, and innovation.

With a professional background in fashion, design, and technology,

she currently explores how textiles carry histories and connect people.

Now based on Vancouver Island, her work has been exhibited globally, always with a focus on reimagining materials and strengthening connections through design.

Rooted in sustainability, Varvara’s series “Painting Waste_Textile Stories” gives new life to discarded materials, challenging conventional ideas of value and consumption. Collaborating with other artists, artisans, and communities, she creates works - painted textile stories - that honor tradition while embracing experimentation.

Whether through handwoven textiles, upcycled installations, or participatory projects, Varvara’s work fosters a dialogue between past and future,

craft and technology, individual stories and collective memory.