Karin Tuck Petersen is a fiber artist living in Austin, TX. She received her BFA at Otis College of Art and Design, in Los Angeles, CA, was a member of the 2025 Canopy Program/NYC Crit Club, and ISP at Yellow Chair Salon in 2026. Her work has been shown in recent exhibitions in New York City, Austin, TX, Chautauqua, NY, Bee Cave, TX, Round Rock, TX, and online. She has been featured in Voyage Austin, Canvas Rebel and Wilder Roam Publication. She attended the Chautauqua Visual Arts Residency at Chautauqua Institute in 2024, and Willow House Summer Residency in 2025. Petersen is a Studio Member of Contracommon, an Artist-run nonprofit gallery and studio space in Austin, TX.

I create fiber sculptures focusing on the grandeur and fragility of the body, emphasizing the mysticism of the form being altered, torn, and repaired. I am a sculptor who uses textiles because of the materiality- the intrinsic, tactile properties of fibers. I make soft sculptures with themes of fertility and nature. I am drawn to the ideas of nurture and shelter, expressed through my forms of habitats and organs; symbols of care, protection, and survival.

Historically, the act of sewing and quilting has been the responsibility of women, a job of endurance, comfort, and care. Using upcycled textiles, I create complex vessels made with material manipulation such as sewing, ripping, knotting, and weaving; changing forms into organic shapes resembling vessels, limbs, and organs. The seams that hold them are visible, deliberate, and imperfect, with a focus on mending. Thinking of nesting, I explore the ideas of protection and rejection, mimicking the act of both destruction and repair. 

Committed to conservation and environmental issues, I use repurposed materials with sustainability in mind for our next generations. My sculptures are reimagined into new forms anchored to the wall in stoic surrender. Thinking about hope, loss and exploring the intersection of fragility and resilience, my work encompasses the duality of protection and destruction, with an emphasis on the fragility of reproduction. My work holds space for sadness, hope, and renewal.