about fibrous
the artist
Meet the hands behind the work —
Ellen Bruxvoort founded FIBROUS in 2015, turning a lifelong love of handmade craft into a studio built around rope, texture, and form. Based in Austin, Texas, she creates custom fiber art and sculptural installations for commercial and residential spaces — hotels, offices, restaurants, retail, and homes across the country.
Working primarily in rope and natural materials, she collaborates with designers and fabricators to bring dimension and warmth to flat spaces, grounding her work where traditional craftsmanship meets modern design.
Before FIBROUS, Ellen spent a decade in the service industry. Before that, she was just a millennial who liked to craft. (some things never change)
past clients & Partners —
the space
FIBROUS has floated between many different studios over the years. Ellen’s early works were born in the in-betweens, as most hobbies naturally find themselves.
In 2015, Ellen set up her first home studio in a small Austin apartment. Who needs a dining room in your twenties anyway? This creative corner evolved into a whole wing of her next house and eventually became full time work by 2017.
As wholesale business grew, she expanded to co-founding a shared commercial studio in 2018 (Broad Studios) where FIBROUS carried out all operations until 2020.
During the pandemic, Ellen pivoted away from production and leaned more towards customs and site-specific work. This shift allowed her to return to her home studio in 2021, where she works today.
the namesake
FIBROUS leans on a concept of connectedness — I am because we are: a philosophy that our existence is intricately woven into the existence of all that surrounds us.
Just as a fibrous object has inherent strength due to the nature of its individual parts working together as a whole, the vision for this work is equally one of seamless support between creators and their communities, making life as an artist not only possible, but sustainable.
the community
In 2018, Ellen and five other Austin artists co-founded Broad Studios, a female art collective centered around elevating women and non-binary artists by using commercial studio space as a platform for events and education.
Aside from collaborative day-to-day operations, one of Ellen's main roles in the collective was focused on coordinating events and markets both on and offsite.
Since 2018, she’s co-produced over 60 workshops and 25+ markets with Broad Studios, showcasing the work of over 150 womxn-owned businesses from Austin and beyond.
photo by Kelly ngogiving back
FIBROUS proudly backs the following organizations. Supporting FIBROUS doesn’t necessarily mean you have to align with these in totality, but feel free to explore their mission statements and websites if you’d like more information.
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The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) was founded in 1920 and is our nation's guardian of liberty. The ACLU works in the courts, legislatures, and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.
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The Human Rights Campaign strives to end discrimination against LGBTQ+ people and realize a world that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.
HRC envisions a world where lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people, plus community members who use different language to describe their identity are ensured equality and embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community.
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The Ocean Cleanup, a non-profit organization, is developing and scaling technologies to rid the world’s oceans of plastic. Our aim is to put ourselves out of business once the oceans are clean.
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Planned Parenthood’s mission is to ensure all people have access to the care and resources they need to make informed decisions about their bodies, their lives, and their futures.
Each year, Planned Parenthood delivers vital sexual and reproductive health care, sex education, and information to millions of people across the world.
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