Knitted sweater, crocheted flowers, and Kalinkinas: Agnė's works attract attention from a famous designer

Agnė, a Lithuanian artist, breathes new life into old sweaters, transforming them into unique pieces of art adorned with her signature crocheted flowers. What began as a personal project to mend her grandmother's cherished woolen sweater has blossomed into a distinctive creative practice.

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I enrolled in painting, although I actually wanted to study textiles and graphics. That thought never went away, it was always spinning in my head. After my studies, I still painted a little, but in the end, I switched to graphics, ornamentation, and textiles. It all fell into place naturally. Now I realize a lot of myself right here. Painting remained in the background, and textiles came through sweaters.

Initially studying painting at the Vilnius Academy of Arts, Agnė's passion for textiles and graphics persisted. After her studies, she experimented with painting before naturally gravitating towards graphics, ornamentation, and textiles. "Textiles came through sweaters," she explains, now focusing on upcycling rather than creating new garments.

The artistic process started when a small hole appeared on her grandmother's favorite sweater. Agnė's desire to not just repair but also beautify the garment led her to add a colorful patch. This small act of creativity soon expanded, with friends requesting similar embellishments. Her crocheted flowers, initially used to conceal defects, evolved into a defining feature, particularly when she began applying them to sweater sleeves.

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I had a very favorite woolen sweater knitted by my grandmother. It was very dear to me. One day a hole appeared on the pocket, and I thought that I could not only repair it but also somehow beautify it. At first, it was just a small colorful patch. Then I started crocheting more and more, more colors appeared, everything expanded. Friends saw it and started asking – 'Make one for me too.' That's how it all started, little by little.

"I just decided to try it on the sleeves one day. I hadn't seen it anywhere before, I wasn't copying anything. I just started sewing and saw that it was very beautiful to me," Agnė recalls. Today, embellished sleeves are a hallmark of her work, though she hopes to expand her creations to include jeans in the future.

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One day I just decided to try it on the sleeves. I hadn't seen it anywhere before, I wasn't copying anything. I just started sewing and saw that it was very beautiful to me. Now I mostly do sleeves on sweaters or jackets. In the future, I would like to try jeans, but I still lack the time for that.

Driven by a desire to combat rampant consumerism, Agnė emphasizes the importance of preserving garments with personal histories. "An old sweater shouldn't be thrown away just because it has a hole or because it's boring," she asserts. "Especially if it has its own story – maybe it was knitted by a grandmother, maybe a mother. Through handwork, patience, and creativity, that item can become completely new. It can still serve, it just gets a different face."

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I really dislike this crazy consumption. It seems to me that an old sweater shouldn't be thrown away just because it has a hole or because it's boring. Especially if it has its own history – maybe it was knitted by a grandmother, maybe a mother. Through handwork, patience, and creativity, that item can become completely new. It can still serve, it just gets a different face.