Bio:
Kira Keck (they/them) is an Artist-Weaver, Designer-Craftsman, and dyke who mainly works in handweaving and embroidery. Kira earned a BFA in Fiber in 2016 from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Upon graduation, they were awarded a Windgate-Lamar Fellowship which allowed them to explore weaving pedagogy and establish a studio. During this time they attended craft and folk schools including Vävstuga, a Swedish weaving school, in Shelburne Falls, MA. Kira earned their MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2022 where they explored the possibilities of queer interiors and thought a lot about towels. They have been an artist in residence at Fabric of Life in Shelburne Falls, MA, the Institute 4 Labor Generosity Workers and Uniforms in Long Beach, CA, and Praxis Fiber Workshop’s Digital Weaving Lab in Cleveland, OH. In addition to having an active studio practice, Kira is an educator teaching classes through universities and craft schools. They have taught at Wayne State University, SAIC, and the College for Creative Studies. Kira currently lives and works in SE Michigan with their romantic partner/artistic collaborator Jane and a tiny dog.
Statement:
Oblique lines obscure the primordial square grid. Color dominates and dissolves, asserting itself in an undulating field. Linear pattern competes with texture through stitch. Translations of these elements into different textile structures lead to a deeper understanding of how the system operates. My work is informed by intensive textile processes, particularly embroidery and loom-based handweaving techniques, with concepts drawn from personal experience, Queer Theory, and the histories of fiber arts. I translate these ideas into functional and conceptual objects, bringing art into the everyday. Throughout my practice, I use the meta-textile, fabric mimicking another textile or a textile object that is self-aware, as a theoretical and technical framework. Hand making and digital processes allow me to explore pictorial representation, abstraction, illusion, and the tension between surface and structure. The work becomes manifold through each new procedure and apparatus, revealing its metaphorical qualities: concepts of gender performance, assimilation and resistance, genre and pastiche.