Lou Cabeen is a Seattle artist who works with a range of media including maps, textiles, stitching and collage. Making artist books allows her to fully explore the power of tactile experience in communicating her ideas. She uses cloth, paper and stitching in order to emphasize the tactile nature of private experience, and to reveal the textures of subjective thought.
Lou’s most recent work is inspired by environmental issues, from coal mining to watershed protection. She also explores the numinous and has created a series of works inspired by the legends of St. Clare of Assisi and the 20th century apparitions of Mother Mary.
In all of her work, Lou seeks to build a literal body of knowledge—by intellectually researching the topic as well as paying close attention to her own physical reaction to it. Usually the work teaches her, and after a piece is completed she realizes it has brought her home to herself—to something her body has known all along but her mind has not been able to articulate.
On this website, you can view images of Lou’s work both past and present, learn where to view the works in person, read her artist statements, and discover where you can learn more about her work with maps, artist books, and textiles via books and videos.
