Sin Eaters Lament: DIY Festival Artisan

The 16th Annual Craft Lake City DIY Festival Presented By Harmons will feature over 500 local creatives this year, from artisans, vintage vendors and craft foodies to youth entrepreneurs, STEM exhibitors and performers. Get a taste of what’s coming to the Utah State Fairpark this August in the following pages and get tickets to experience it yourself at craftlakecity.com. With a dog park, VIP lounge, a national headlining musician and brand-new DIY Fest After Dark programming, this year’s festival is not to be missed!

In the stifling quiet of pandemic lockdown, Cathy Cartwright found an unexpected path to resilience. She turned inward, channeling her anxiety and grief into the creation of haunting, handcrafted dolls. Each figure emerged as a silent witness to these turbulent times, their glass eyes reflecting both sorrow and hope.

Cartwright had long dabbled in fiber arts. But it was the isolation of COVID-19 that transformed her hobby into a profound artistic expression. Her “relics of grief and grace” begin as simple wire armatures, carefully wrapped and needle-felted into being. Cartwright lets the materials guide her hands, eschewing sketches for a flow of pure creativity.

“Dolls can carry memories, hopes and aspirations,” she says. “They can be healing.” Indeed, crafting these figures became Cartwright’s lifeline through the pandemic’s gloom, each stitch a small act of resilience.

The name of her artistic business, @the.sin.eaters.lament on Instagram, delves deep into folklore and its modern parallels. In medieval villages, sin-eaters were outcasts tasked with ritualistically consuming the sins of the dead, bearing the community’s spiritual burdens. Cartwright saw a connection to modern essential workers who shouldered society’s weight during the pandemic, often at great personal cost. Her dolls, like sin-eaters, become vessels for processing collective grief and finding moments of grace.

At the DIY Festival, Cartwright’s booth promises to be captivating. Each doll stands as a silent storyteller, waiting for the right soul to take them home and unravel their secrets.

Read more interviews with local artists here:
Black Metal Yoga with Circus Instructor Cupcake
Mestizo Arts Presents: Home is Never Dead: It Isn’t Even Home