The Leitrim Design House are delighted to celebrate the work of multi award winning artist Karena Ryan with a new exhibition titled Inherited Threads. On view from November 17th, this collection of textile works weaves together ancestry, memory, and the quiet connections that bind us to the land and to one another. Rooted in stories passed down through generations, these works reimagine fragments of the past through fibre, stitch, and texture, serving as acts of remembrance held within cloth.
Drawing inspiration from vintage family photographs, ancestral stories, and old ordnance survey maps, she explores how memory and place overlap. Even as nature reclaims many of the landmarks once recorded on those maps, the artist recognises that traces of the past remain; “the earth that was turned and the paths once shaped by human and animal movement may no longer be visible, yet the spirit of those who walked there endures.”
For every artwork, Karena begins with fragments of fabric and memory, pieced and layered slowly by hand. “I work intuitively with hand embroidery, appliqué, and repurposed Foxford blankets, materials once found in the homes of those I honour. Irish wool, vintage embroidered linens, and natural fibres form the foundation of my practice, their tactile qualities evoking warmth, resilience, and a deep sense of place. Through layering, beading, and stitch, I seek to preserve moments of tenderness and labour, transforming everyday materials into quiet portraits of belonging.”
The pieces within Inherited Threads shift between landscape and lineage. Some are guided by the geometry of old field boundaries, while others take on a more intimate and figurative form. Each piece becomes both personal and universal, a meditation on how memory, land, and lineage interlace, and how the stories of our ancestors remain embedded in the fabric of time.
Karena Ryan is a multi-award-winning textile artist and designer based in Tuam, County Galway. Working under the philosophy “Storytelling through Stitch,” Her work is rooted in a deep respect for material provenance. She works primarily with Irish wool sourced from local farmers and processors, blending it with vintage Foxford blankets, embroidered linens, and found fabrics to create layered, tactile compositions that honour familial and cultural histories and preserve the stories of our ancestors. Ryan’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including Pulchri Studio, The Hague, Hunt Museum, Limerick, Hamilton Gallery, Sligo, and as part of a showcase in Philadelphia. A member of the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland, Feltmakers Ireland, and Fibreshed, she continues to advocate for sustainability and the preservation of Irish wool traditions through contemporary textile art. Experience this unique exhibition with friends and family until January 30th. Should you wish to invest in any of our Irish artwork, we're happy to take deposits which may be paid off over several weeks to spread the cost.
