Lurena Williamson: Passion for Textiles and Textures

Lurena Williamson of Tattered Moon is obsessed with resurrecting antiques and old fabrics into Halloween dolls. She’s an outsider artist with an edge of creepy. All of her designs are one-of-a-kind and created without patterns. Even her sewing machine, which “drives like a Porsche,” is vintage.  

Lurena commenced her career by working at a fabric store. She’s had a variety of jobs, even working for a technology company. Through it all, her soul has always driven her to create dolls. While working in corporate jobs, she would stay up late into the night fabricating her dolls. This was the inspiration for the word “moon” in her business name.  

Lurena’s interest in odd dolls goes back to childhood. She wasn’t interested in the dolls typically marketed to girls; she enjoyed playing with GI Joes. She made dolls out of pantyhose and fiber from the bottom of the family couch. One of her earliest exhibits was a witch she made at craft store – she displayed it in the family dining room window complete a cauldron.  

She works intuitively – Lurena lets the fabrics and objects tell her who they need to become. Her studio is filled with antiques and floor-to-ceiling stacks of fabrics. Lurena feels the energy of antiques. She is not tied to any particular era – a doll can have lace from the Victorian era, tattered Edwardian trim, buttons from the 1920s, and upholstery fabric from the 1950s, and more.  

Attending Ghoultide Gathering helped Lurena discover her tribe. She discovered Halloween art collectors are more excited about dolls than galleries were. The Halloween art community is constant inspiration and keeps her growing. 

To discover more about Lurena, visit her at https://www.tatteredmoon.com.