For the upcoming Agathus showroom, fiber artist Britt Fabello presents a body of work that invites viewers to attune to the subtle connections between self, others, and the environment. Rooted in a meditative practice of repetition and care, her work uses thread, paper, and earth-toned palettes to explore how small, often overlooked moments can expand into broader emotional and environmental landscapes.
At the heart of Britt’s practice is a guiding philosophy she often envisions as a triangle: relationship to self, relationship to others, and relationship to the environment. And her work exists where they intersect, where emotions, interactions, and surroundings shape one another. Fiber is Britt’s primary medium, with sewing into handmade paper at the core of her practice. She was initially drawn to textiles for their texture and the sense of calm they tend to evoke. “There’s something about thread and fabric that immediately puts people at ease,” she reflects. Sewing into paper introduces a contrasting tension. As thread moves through a rigid surface, the paper bends and softens, gradually taking on cloth-like qualities. The distinction between materials begins to blur, allowing viewers to question what they are seeing and how it came to be.
Her early work reflected her background in graphic design, influenced by Scandinavian minimalism and marked by careful structure, balance, and attention to negative space. While that sensibility remains, her approach has become more intuitive over time. Today, emotion, lived experience, and responsiveness to materials guide each piece. Instead of beginning her process with a fixed plan, Britt allows the work to emerge through the trials and tribulations of weaving and threading.
Britt’s work is closely tied to place and topography. Living between the East Coast, London, and now the West Coast, she draws from architectural rhythms, natural landscapes, and the spaces where they intersect. In conversation, she speaks about hiking trails as formative sites of observation, places where paths are shaped slowly through repeated passage and attention. Her Places series, informed by London’s brick buildings, whitewashed facades, and green parks, marked a turning point in her practice, when the work aligned with a long-held internal vision. Moving west reintroduced nature more directly into her compositions, reconnecting her work to an outdoor-driven childhood spent hiking, kayaking, and near the ocean.
Britt’s attentiveness to nature informs a broader ethic of sustainability that underpins her practice. This commitment is demonstrated through her previous collaboration with FibreLab, where she worked directly with handmade and recycled papers and engaged closely with the material conditions of their production. In the interview, she speaks about learning how paper is formed, repaired, and reused, and how those processes shaped her own approach to making. Unwilling to create work that generates unnecessary waste, she sources materials with intention, remains mindful of where her thread comes from, and mends damaged paper rather than discarding it. Each piece is understood as part of a longer narrative, shaped by the maker of the paper, her own hand, and the eventual owner. “It feels full-circle,” she says. “Like the work carries more than just my story.”
Repetition sits at the center of Britt’s practice as a physical act and an emotional anchor. Hours of small, precise stitches create a meditative rhythm that quiets the mind and puts more weight on present moments. In contrast to a digital culture defined by speed and constant input, her work embraces slowness, touch, and sustained attention. Visually, this repetition creates subtle shifts within each composition, mirroring how small thoughts or actions can gradually reshape a day or even a life. Her hope is to create space for reflection and recognition. “I want people to feel understood,” she shares. “To see something they couldn’t quite name, and suddenly feel like it’s been acknowledged.”
Through thread, paper, and quiet gestures, Britt’s pieces remind us that connection does not need to be loud to be meaningful, and that even the smallest stitch can carry lasting resonance.
Explore more of her work at our upcoming showroom and brittfabello.com.