Based in northern Sweden, textile artist Britta Marakatt-Labba makes intricate embroideries about Sámi culture, history and mythology, drawing inspiration from her family’s everyday experiences, significant political events and concerns about the future of the Sápmi region.
‘I grew up around yarns and stitching, so my interest in embroidery started when I was very young. My older sister embroidered all the time, and I was fascinated by the needle going up and down. My father, who died when I was five, left behind some handcrafts. But they were both making traditional items, rather than artworks – embroidery on the surface of our clothing, for example. When I was young I visited Kiruna near where I live, and in the city hall I came across embroidered works by the Swedish artist Sten Kauppi (1922-2002), which were one of my first inspirations.
It wasn’t easy for me to make it as an artist, as someone from a reindeer-herding family. I found a college in Luleå, where I went for two years, before going to HDK-Valand, the academy of art and design at Gothenburg University, for four years to study textiles. I started embroidering in my final year, in 1978. Today, as well as stitching, I also work with appliqué and printing.