I am part borrowing the title ‘Kindoms and Kinship’ from the title of an exhibition curated by Patricia Brien in 2018 called KINdoms. Her introduction to the exhibition best describes the group of works in this category. Her statement in full can be found below. The pieces below were on show in a variety of shows
A Place called Home 2017
Be Here Now, Kingshill House Dursley 2022
Awe and Wonder , Church StJames the Less FaB 2023
KINdoms: textiling with the more-than-human
KINdoms explores textile arts inspired by eco-feminism /phenomenolgy. Dispensing with the hierachies between humans and non -human species – this exhibition probes our connections as part of a larger web.
As meshes of plant, animal, mineral networks , textiles are nomadic across species, time, place and material state, so artists explore textiles as an interface, (de)construction or surface with others/self. All around us is vibrant matter, invisible yet perceptible eg. air, rainwater, starlight, connecting with real or imagined trees, animals, seasons or the soil via textiles.
This exhibition features the work of an international and local cast of artists from Japan, Germany and the UK working with stitch, print, weave, knit dye etc in various scales and flows of agency between 2D and 3D, image, text, trad crafts and new technologies. It indicates ways of dialoguing with natural worlds.
Curated by PATRICIA BRIEN