Tactile Stories

Tactile Stories brings together a small but expressive collection of works that trace the intimate connections between land, memory, and the materials that shape our experience of place. Working across felted landscapes, sculptural forms, paper piecing, and surface design, Kari Roslund draws from the long traditions of fiber to create works that invite viewers to slow down, look closely, and engage with the physicality of making.

Each piece in the collection begins with a material rooted in lived experience—wool gathered from regional farms, archival papers tied to local histories, and fibers selected for their texture, warmth, and narrative potential. These elements are layered, coaxed, sculpted, or stitched into forms that echo the terrain of rural Pennsylvania, the fleeting brilliance of seasonal shifts, and the quiet stories embedded within everyday objects. Through these processes, Roslund transforms humble fibers into landscapes that hold a sense of weather and time, sculptures that reference natural forms, and collaged surfaces that merge history with contemporary craft.

While each work stands on its own, Tactile Stories is unified by an underlying curiosity about how materials carry meaning. The felted landscapes recall moments of stillness in wild places; the sculptural pieces explore how fiber can hold structure and gesture; the paper-based works weave together fragments of community memory; and the surface designs celebrate the subtle interplay of pattern, dye, and handwork. Together, they form a collection that speaks to both personal and collective histories.

Ultimately, Tactile Stories asks viewers to consider the tactile world that surrounds us—how textures shape memory, how materials connect us to place, and how the act of making becomes its own form of storytelling. Through fiber, Roslund creates an intimate map of the landscapes, people, and histories that continue to inspire her work.