Olivia Hill

Fiber Artist

I was immediately intrigued by punch hooking when I recently discovered it in 2018. Although previously dabbling in printmaking, painting and ceramics in more formal class settings, I stumbled my way through teaching myself to punch hook through trial and error. Very few resources where available past the basics, which forced me to quickly start exploring firsthand by experimenting. I quickly developed my own style and was able to put a fresh modern spin on the reemerging medium. My inspirations predominantly come from people and animals although my growing fascination with plants and flowers is obvious in my work as well.

Punch hooking is similar to needlepoint. A special punch needle is used as well as a variety of different kinds of yarn and embroidery threads to weave imagery into embroidery cloth. This leaves one side of the canvas with smooth and defined lines and the backside rough with a primitive messy look. The time it takes to complete a piece all varies on the size of the piece, detail level of the original line drawing and color changes. Each of my pieces is unique, handmade, and original.