Sarah Kusa

Who: Sarah Kusa, textile designer and creator of Sarah Kusa Design Goods, a collection of screen-printed place mats, dishcloths, and table runners with graphic, nature-inspired patterns.

Creative Curiosities: After working as an art director in advertising and marketing firms, Kusa longed to create things that were more tangible. “Design for marketing can get very diluted with having to justify the why of every detail,” Kusa says. “But my experience as an art director makes me savor being able to pursue beauty for beauty’s sake.”

Artistic Process: “Screen printing essentially starts with curiosity,” she says. “I’ll create a pattern on a screen, choose a fabric, and then mix inks by hand. My reaction to the test print is all gut—it either strikes me right away or it just doesn’t work. It is an instant-gratification art form, and I still get a little rush each time I lift up the screen after pulling a print.”

Respecting Her Resources: Kusa creates her textiles from natural fibers such as linen, silk, and cotton, and her prints are made with water-based inks. “I use natural fibers for their innate beauty and sensory feel,” she says. “But also because I feel that as a renewable resource it’s the right choice. And the water-based inks minimize the role of chemicals.”

Constant Gardener: Kusa is drawn to dramatic forms and silhouettes. “Screen printing really oversimplifies things into positive and negative spaces,” she says. “Nature offers such dramatic forms, and the botanicals in my current collection are literally plucked from my backyard.”

Future Plans: This past December, Kusa and a chair that was reupholstered in one of her textiles were featured on Design*Sponge, a popular DIY design blog. She hopes to collaborate with more interior designers in the future, but for her own collection she has already added accent pillows ($58) to the assortment of runners ($48–$54), place mats ($16–$19), dishcloths ($14), and napkins ($28)—a collection of curtain panels is on the way. Her next collection of designs will focus on repetition and shape.

Select designs are available at Corazon, 4646 E. Lake St., Mpls., 612-276-0198, and 204 Washington Ave. N., Mpls., 612-333-1662, as well as her website.