Carina Yepez


Master of Fine Arts in Studio, Fiber and Material Studies

Carina Yepez is multidisciplinary artist born and raised in the Southwest neighborhoods of Chicago, IL. Carina explores generations of women who taught her how to sew and navigate the sewing machine. From a rural small town in Mexico to the urban city, she learned sewing techniques from her grandmother and mother. She also learned from the women while working at a fabric store and then learned new techniques from a sewing co-op, Puntadas del Alma (Stitches of the Soul). Her creative practice is also threaded through mediums in photography, quilting, writing, art education, storytelling and archiving. Through her work at the National Museum of Mexican Art and the Chicago History Museum she reflects on a unique experience. Carina connects and aligns her own practice to share teaching theories in museum education, community engagement and cultural identity through a historical perspective that can take shape into a healing form. Her work tells the stories of the emotions surrounding the perspective and history of her Mexicana-Americana heritage near and far.