About Mabel

    

Artist Statement

   Inspired by the quilts of Gee’s Bend, the colors and shapes of Paul Klee and Milton Avery paintings, Mabel Johnson is drawn to the idea of pulling from the past, while at the same time creating a new contemporary story. Every piece is made one of a kind, as she seeks to design pieces to be seen more as artwork than clothing. When she was little, her mom taught her to sew by taking patches and pieces from clothing her and her siblings had outgrown, by repurposing them into something completely new. Whether it was a pillow, a purse, or a quilt for her dolls, there was always something to reinvent out of this old material. It’s the idea of making something out of nothing, that inspires her to patch together and give new meaning to old material. 

Bio

   Mabel Johnson is a 2026 graduating senior in Fiber at the Kansas City Art Institute. Her work revolves around garment construction, building upon techniques like hand pleating, embroidery, and piecing. She is drawn to exploring the ways that clothing becomes a living language. Often incorporating repurposed materials, each garment carries traces of the past into the living rhythm of the present. Working from the fabric outward, she observes how it drapes and folds in her hands. Weight and movement guide each silhouette, as color and composition emerge in response- allowing each step of the process to inform the next.

  Mabel started her own clothing line (mabelmade) at the age of fifteen, and has sold hundreds garments across the United States and internationally, along with a number of commissions. In 2025 she collaborated with the brand Ace & Jig, and created a capsule of garments made from their hand-woven material. Mabel is a recipient of the Karen Gould award, the Barbara L. Kuhlman Foundation scholarship, and the Susan Lordi Marker award of excellence in Fiber. She has also received the Lead Emerging Artist Prize (Leap Award), and was a design finalist in the National YoungArts Foundation (2021). Most recently, she was announced as a 2026 Windgate-Lamar Fellow.

 

Follow her on instagram, @mabelmade_ !