At the time, Fischer was a photography student at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and working at Goldmine Vintage's old Boulder location during a break from school. "I would just sew for them all the time, play dress up with my friends, say hi to dogs and then repeat, and that was like two years of my life and it was really fun," Fischer recalls.
Then one day, her friend and Goldmine owner Joan Jones gave her that latch-hook kit.
"She was like, 'I thought you'd like this, it was $2,'" Fischer says. "Basically, she gave it to me, and I could not put it down." Fischer finished the kit and hung the result up in her room. And then something weird started to happen: Any time anyone came over, they went straight to the yarn art, skipping over anything else she was making. Encouraged, Fischer picked up more yarn.
Soon, she was covering her furniture with yarn, hanging it from her ceilings, creating a colorful world of yarn sculptures and working them into her photography degree. "I had to figure out how I could keep playing with yarn and how I was going to get people to give me a degree by playing with yarn in front of my camera," Fischer says. The projects that Fischer documented with her camera got the artist her start in installation work.
Last year, Fischer created installations at the Denver Art Museum, Denver International Airport and Meow Wolf, among other spots. "Those are bucket-list items for me," she says. "It was really phenomenal to have the opportunity to put my art next to all these other artists in the city, and it allowed me to meet lots of new people."
Fischer's airport installation was a three-window display full of yarn, sculptures and twenty eye-spy items, like a lizard, dice and other random bits she found at ReCreative, a used art-supply store in the Arts District on Santa Fe.
For her DAM display, she brought as much yarn as she could, along with a giant fluffy yarn chair covered with flowers. "We did demo days, and I got to spend three hours four Saturdays in a row teaching kids how to play with yarn," Fischer says. "I had everyone from two-year-olds to 75-year-old grandmas playing together. That was very special for me."
Fischer has done multiple projects with Meow Wolf, including fashion shows and installations. "Andrea's style and presence perfectly capture the essence of Meow Wolf — provocative, playful and full of imaginative possibilities — and not only as a featured artist in our sustainable fashion show, Absolute Rubbish," says Ru Johnson, public relations manager for Meow Wolf Denver. "I had the privilege of attending a special Meow Wolf Makers workshop where Andrea's unique flair transformed upcycled yarn into stunning wall hangings. Her vibrant energy infuses her art with a sense of sanctuary, making it not just something to admire, but something to experience."
In 2024, Fischer also did a large installation for the City of Englewood. "It was an outdoor installation that covered a back alleyway and was up for seven months," she recalls. Her work hung alongside that of the Ladies Fancywork Society, a legendary local group of yarn artists who have been delighting Denver with "yarn crimes" since 2007. "I've been a fan of theirs since before I even lived in Denver," Fischer says. "Our work lived side by side together in downtown Englewood for half of the year. Rumor has it our work will be shown together again soon."
Fischer has quite a few other projects in the works — some that she can talk about and some that she can't. At the end of May, she plans to install art in an empty storefront as part of this year's interactive Leave Your Fingerprints Downtown project, designed to help activate that part of the city. She's also part of this year's Blue Bench RISE Art Show, a collection of artwork from Denver artists who identify as survivors of sexual violence; Blue Bench is a sexual assault prevention and support center. "I am beyond honored to be a part of this show," Fischer says. "While I am thrilled to share my immersive art with everyone, I look forward to being surrounded by strong, talented people. It takes strength to put yourself out there as an artist, even more so when it's tied to personal experiences and trauma. At the end of the day, this show gets to be art and not what happened to the artist. My story is one of victory, and I plan to convey feelings of comforting joy in my installation. As always, prepare yourself for color!"
Fischer has bipolar disorder, and thinks that's reflected in the sheer amount of art she makes. "There have been times when someone has asked me if I was bipolar when they looked at my art, which was very fascinating," she says. "I think bipolar people are good at finding each other out there. They're like, 'Um, did you go to bed last night? I see that you did all of this.'"
Fischer's yarn art is also a coping mechanism. When she lived in cloudy and cold Wisconsin before moving to Denver after finishing her degree about six years ago, she was "a sad, sad girl," she says. "When I finally started playing with yarn and playing with art, I got so addicted that I was staying in every weekend, spending all my time creating art and making a lot of new coping skills. I was making healthy choices. It has literally saved my life. It brings me so much joy. I feel so grateful that I found it."
Fischer enjoys working with yarn because it's an affordable material — far more affordable than cameras, which had been her initial interest. All of the yarn she uses is recycled, with a lot of it coming from ReCreative and direct donations. "I call them my little yarn fairies," Fischer says. "They bring me yarn, especially this time of year when spring's coming. People are cleaning."
To share her joy (and pro tips), Fischer holds art classes around Denver, usually at ReCreative, to which she brings fifty to 100 colors and kinds of yarn and teaches people how to create tassels, pom-poms and wall hangings. "I've experimented so much over the years on how to do things more affordably, easily and with fewer tools," she says. "The class is basically my little secrets."
Not all of her classes are yarn-related, though. Fischer's next workshops include a clothing dying class on Thursday, April 10, at Strawberry Mountain and a tote-making class on Sunday, April 13, at ReCreative.
Fischer makes art full-time, and every day's schedule looks different. Depending on the day of the week and the mood she's in, she either does artwork or computer work, which can involve responding to emails, going on social media, taking her own photographs or marketing her art.
The response that her art has received has been heartening and inspiring. "Every day I'm still shocked that I get to make art and people want to look at the things I produce," she says. "I think I'll forever be in shock that people want to take my art into their homes. It's been so motivating for me and has led to me creating even more art."
To follow Andrea Fischer's artwork and learn more about upcoming workshops, follow her on Instagram @_andreafischer or visit her website, andreafischer.art. This year's RISE Survivor Art Show runs through April 30 at M&D Artistries, 773 Santa Fe Drive.
