STUDIO UPDATE - SUMMER 2022
Detail from one of the pieces in the original You Are Not Alone Across Time installation.
Summer is officially here, along with its heat and classic North Carolina humidity. Praises for a climate controlled studio with AC!
Speaking of the studio— time for an update! Not gonna lie, it has been a rouuuugh season. There’s been quite a few changes in my life in and out of the studio which has put a kibosh on some much needed creative space and energy.
Fortunately, things are starting to finally reach some type of equilibrium and good things are on the horizon! I got out of a stressful part-time job that was taking all of my energy and replaced it with a much more flexible and joy-filled part-time gig that allows me more time in the studio— hooray! It’s amazing how much life changes when you’re not constantly fighting feelings of sadness and stress on the day-to-day. Who knew?!
Behind the scenes of my new part-time job. I spend the first few hours of my weekdays feeding livestock at a local farm near my house. This is my new buddy, William, trying to eat the frayed edges of my shorts, ha!
Being back in the studio has been such a pleasure and has also come with some eye-opening realizations. Much to my dismay, I will not be able to finish the ginormous installation that I set my sights and hopes on at the beginning of the year. Supply chain issues and lack of funds is making it difficult to continue onward with the original iteration of You Are Not Alone Across Time. I’m heartbroken and have been fighting with feelings of failure for the past month. My inner bully has been telling me that I’m a quitter and that no one will trust me when I talk about plans for big projects in the future.
Thank the heavens for strong community and close friends that I trust! One of my best friends (and art mentor at this point!) spoke against my feelings of failure and reminded me that the decisions I’m making to scrap my original idea and do something else is a part of the creative process. This isn’t quitting. It’s leaning into creativity.
The beauty of punch needle is that the materials that I’ve used thus far will not go to waste. I will be able to reclaim all of the yarn, foundation cloth and felt and use them in the new iteration of You Are Not Alone Across Time as well as other future artworks.
I’m revisiting experiments I’ve done in the past and looking to them for inspiration as I move forward with the new body of work. I’ll still be working through the original concept of You Are Not Alone Across Time, but making it with a handful of individual artworks instead of a 27 piece installation. I think that the plans I have for the new works will convey my concepts much more clearly than the original plan and be completed at a much quicker pace.
A few swatches from the #makedontbreak challenge I did in January 2021 that are a part of my inspiration for the new body of artwork.
The decision to make a much smaller body of work means that I’ll be able to dive fully into making more art that will be for sale again. It’s been a minute since I had a shop update, but that’s all about to change! Be on the lookout for new work in the online shop!
Stay hopeful, friends.
-KB
