A line is only
the beginning.

Drawing. Making. Wearing. Meeting.
The people and decisions that make UKENA.

Jump into
the unknown.

A film about Ole Ukena’s practice.

It began
with a jacket.

“I made a jacket with embroidery. Someone bought it, someone else wanted it, and another one.”
Ole Ukena

UKENA began in 2020, during the pandemic. Ole’s work with embroidery became something people could wear. Morta later joined the project as a creative partner, helping shape what UKENA became.

A family name. An open meaning.

Ukena is Ole’s family name. It was there before the clothing.

What another person hears in it may be different. That openness runs through the work: a drawing, a garment or a name can mean something its maker did not expect.

Ole Ukena wearing pink Soft Code in the studio beside drawings — Ole Ukena, in the studio.

Morta and Ole together inside the YES AND exhibition at IKAL — Morta and Ole at YES AND, IKAL.

A name.
Many hands.

UKENA takes its name from artist Ole Ukena. His drawings begin a collaboration with the Bali atelier: embroidery and tailoring give the line a form that can be worn.

Morta coordinates studio operations, retail relationships and customer communication. Her contributions also include colour choices for Soft Code.

The work carries these different contributions into another collaboration: the life of the person who wears it.

Ole Ukena’s wider practice Inside the YES AND exhibition

A drawing
becomes thread.

At the machine, an embroiderer guides the cloth beneath the needle. Tailoring gives it shape.

A day at the open studio

Hands guiding cloth in the embroidery hoop. A close view from the studio archive.

Completed by you.Continued by others.

A drawing takes shape through many hands. Wearing brings it into the world. A glance, a question, a conversation: UKENA includes these encounters in the work, even when nobody recognises them as art.

01 The artist

A first line.

Ole draws a line. Another hand will turn it into stitch.

A first line · drawn by Ole Ukena
02 The makers

Different hands. Shared making.

The embroiderer guides cloth beneath the needle. The tailor gives it form. Their decisions become part of the work.

A diagram of interpretation between hands.
03 The wearer

You bring it into your life.

You choose how to wear it, what to combine it with, where to take it. The work becomes part of your day.

Soft Code campaign. The work, worn together.
04 The encounter

Someone notices. A question follows.

“Who made this?” A question can become a conversation. Someone else sees something you hadn’t. For UKENA, these encounters belong to the work, too.

You don’t have to own the work to become part of an encounter.

Illustration of different readings · no single answer
05 The continuation

What happens next belongs, too.

A conversation. A memory. Someone you meet again. The garment is finished; what it sets in motion stays open.

One work. More encounters. Different ways to continue.