Kukafka_000041_788372_293528_17893.jpg
Kukafka_000041_788372_293528_17893.jpg

Oranges by Varsha Kukafka

$300.00

2025

Fiber and paper

16’’ x 11”

My most recent work comprises weavings of Nepalese Lokta papers and mulberry papers that combine my poetry, printmaking, and mixed media. My pieces are inspired by nature, human and animal relationships, and imagination, as well as the integral structures of textiles and poetic forms. I invite the challenges and surprises that happen during the entire process—beginning with warp preparation and evolving through imagery, structure, color, form, application, and that most welcome of aspects—serendipity. The interplay between poetry and textiles is fascinating and has opened up a whole new chapter for my art-making.

2025

Fiber and paper

16’’ x 11”

My most recent work comprises weavings of Nepalese Lokta papers and mulberry papers that combine my poetry, printmaking, and mixed media. My pieces are inspired by nature, human and animal relationships, and imagination, as well as the integral structures of textiles and poetic forms. I invite the challenges and surprises that happen during the entire process—beginning with warp preparation and evolving through imagery, structure, color, form, application, and that most welcome of aspects—serendipity. The interplay between poetry and textiles is fascinating and has opened up a whole new chapter for my art-making.

Varsha Kukafka began her professional career as a tapestry weaver. Her piece “In the Backyard” won a purchase prize from the North Carolina Museum of Art. Her tapestries were shown at the North Carolina Museum of History, the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia, PA and in galleries in Massachusetts. She created mosaic wall pieces and installations and has worked in printmaking. Following a twenty-year career as an assistant district attorney, Varsha returned to art and poetry full time. Her poems have been published in many literary journals, including AGNI, Salamander, and Intima, a Journal of Narrative Medicine, which nominated her poem for a Pushcart Prize. She has read at the Boston Poetry Festival and local venues, including Grub Street’s 10th Anniversary. Her visual art has been recognized and displayed in competitive juried shows across the country including in California, Illinois, Louisiana, Virginia, as well as at the Concord Center for the Visual Arts in Concord, MA, Gallery twist in Lexington, MA, and the Cultural Center of Cape Cod in South Yarmouth MA .

Published poetry and fiction 2005-present

AGNI; The American Journal of Poetry; Philadelphia Stories; Intima [Pushcart Prize Nomination by Intima]; Salamander; Painted Bride Quarterly; Ibbetson Street Press; Wilderness House Literary Review; First Intensity; Lyrical Ballads; Bagel Bards Anthology; Muddy River Poetry Review; Hacks: Grub Street anthology.

Readings

Boston Poetry Festival at Boston Public Library; Cervena Barva Press 15 year anniversary; Grub Street Writing Center Boston 10th anniversary

Visual Art / weaving; printmaking

Juried Shows:

2026: Central Library of Rochester NY ‘Art of the Book and Paper’; ‘Fibrous’: a Juried National Exhibition of Paper and Textile Artwork, Norfolk, VA; ‘Artifacts’ 6Bridges Gallery, Mayanrd, MA; Fine Line Arts Center Kavanagh Gallery St. Charles IL; ACE Gallery Oceanside CA; McNeese National Works on Paper Exhibit Lake Charles LA; the Cultural Center of Cape Cod “Curiously Gorey”; The Concord Center for the Visual Arts Concord MA; The Siren Scene “Curious Figure 3” New Bedford MA; Gallery twist; Lexington Center for the Arts.

2025 Cambridge Cener for Adult Education; Arlington Center for the Arts; Lexington Center for the Arts; Gallery twist; Concord Center for the Visual Arts.

2022 & 2023: The Annual Roddy Competition, Concord Center for the Visual Arts

Professional tapestry weaver:

North Carolina Museum of Art [purchase prize]

North Carolina Museum of History

National Museum of American Jewish History