Caren Garfen
Caren Garfen
Mourning Light, 2025
Cotton, silk threads, backing card 26cm x 21cm x 2cm
On the morning of 7 October 2023, Hamas terrorists carried out a massacre at Kibbutz Be’eri, killing and abducting residents. A total of 101 Israeli civilians were murdered, including peace activists, children and one infant. Additionally, 32 hostages were taken. Mourning Light has been created in the form of a flattened box, reflecting the style of boxes that hold memorial candles traditionally used to honour the memory of those who have passed away. The artwork is hand stitched with the names of those murdered on that day, serving as a devastating memorial to the victims.
Caren Garfen
Hidden in Plain Sight, 2025
Cotton, silk threads, 24 vintage ophthalmic lenses, 26 miniature picture frames, photographs 66cm x 40cm x 1cm
On 7 October 2023, Jewish women were brutally attacked by Hamas terrorists. These innocent citizens of Israel had no defence against a carefully planned, systematic assault. They were woken from sleep, tending to their babies or preparing breakfast for their families in the supposed safety of their homes. Others were dancing under open skies at a music festival. The terrorists recorded their crimes with bodycams, dragging women away, overpowering them, committing acts of extreme violence and murder. The artist reflects on the tangible silence from the #MeToo movement and others in the face of such indescribable atrocities. These victims have been forced into invisibility because of their heritage and where they live. Invisible to their attackers, and invisible to a global audience unwilling to look beyond its own prejudice. What has humanity come to, when within hours of the attack, voices rose not in compassion or outrage, but in denial, insisting that the attack had never taken place?
Caren Garfen
Silence, 2024
Cotton, silk threads, vintage leather suitcase 1920s -1930s, luggage tag, pebbles from Israel 210cm x 110cm x 58cm
On 7 October 2023, Israeli women were brutally attacked by Hamas terrorists; they were thrown to the ground, raped, sexually mutilated, murdered, and taken hostage. The artist reflects upon the palpable silence of the #MeToo movement and others in the face of such atrocities. In response, she has created a shroud, hand-stitched with victims’ names and hashtagged words, representing the extreme horror of that day. No additional information, such as the victims’ ages, places of residence, or occupations, is provided due to the lack of global interest regarding the brutality of this attack on innocent women and children in Israel.
Caren Garfen
MORAL COMPASS, 2024
Cotton, silk threads, 42 compasses. Hand stitch 65cm x 45cm x 6cm
‘Moral Compass’ addresses the unprecedented resurgence of antisemitism since the Holocaust, focusing on attacks against Jewish people in public spaces, places of worship, workplaces, on holiday, and through social media. The piece highlights incidents occurring globally today. It questions whether society has lost its moral compass where respect for individual identity and heritage coexists with the normalisation of antisemitism.
Caren Garfen
WOUND, 2024
Cotton, silk threads, 63 vintage cotton spools, pebbles. Hand stitch 94cm x 65cm x 12cm
Wound consists of sixty-one spools of thread that once belonged to my late mother. These threads intertwine with the tragic narratives of sixty seamstresses who had links to Piotrkow Trybunalski in Poland, the birthplace of my maternal grandmother. Moving to England as a child circa 1912, my grandmother left behind relatives, many of whom perished in the Holocaust. Among them was her cousin, listed as a housewife, who undoubtedly would have sewn in her domestic sphere.
Caren Garfen
BEST FRIENDS, 2024
Cotton, silk threads, beads. Hand stitch 34cm x 24cm x 1.5cm
Best Friends is based on a true conversation that unfolded post-7 October 2023, when Hamas terrorists murdered over 1,200 innocent people in Israel. In the aftermath, a Jewish friend sought solace from her Muslim counterpart, with whom she shared a bond of nearly two decades. However, the response she received shattered her, leaving her grappling with profound disillusionment, and questioning the very foundation of trust, especially in her closest confidante.
Caren Garfen
REMEMBER, 2023
Vintage cotton handkerchief made in Germany, silk threads. Hand stitch 28cm x 28cm x 4cm
The names of 130 Jewish females, ranging from 5 months to 81 years of age, were selected by the artist because their forenames began with the letter ‘J’. There is one exception, Fortuna Capelouto, who was ruthlessly murdered alongside her twin sister Juliette, at the tender age of five. These names have been carefully hand-sewn onto a vintage cotton handkerchief originating from Germany. These people hailed from all over Europe. Each of these innocent souls fell victim of the merciless cruelty of the Nazis and their collaborators, who spared no one, regardless of age or circumstance. Pregnant women, mothers with small children and the elderly alike were all condemned to their deaths upon arrival at concentration and extermination camps.
Caren Garfen
FRAGMENTS, 2021
Vintage atlas, textile, silk threads, fabric from donated kuppels. Hand stitch 56cm x 38cm x 7cm
Fragments examines the fashion and textile industry in Berlin in the 1930s, and the impact of Nazi policies of that period on Jewish clothing manufacturers, designers, design houses and fashion stores.
Caren Garfen
THE TASTE OF THINGS TO COME, 2021
Antique porcelain cup & saucer, vintage ashtray, spoon, postcard, fountain pen, coins (all origin Germany), vintage serving tray from Russia, textile, silk threads. Hand stitch 51cm x 41cm x 6cm
20 March 1935, Berlin, Germany
Caren Garfen
STAR WITNESS, 2020
Textile, silk thread, fabric dye, printing ink, printing block. 600 stars. Hand stitch and hand printing 4m x 2m
Star Witness has been created to highlight the rise in 21st century global antisemitism. In-depth research has been carried out on the politics of Europe in the 1930s, the rise of Nazism, the Holocaust, and contemporary antisemitism.
