Place/making Exhibition

“It's not easy to know how to make a life, much less avert planetary

 destruction. Luckily there is still company, human and not human.”

-Anna Tsing, The Mushroom at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins (282)

Vulpes Bastille is pleased to present, Place/Making a group exhibition by three recent University of Kansas MFA graduates, Tiana Nanayo Ku’uleialoha Honda, SK Reed, and Kirsten Taylor, whose exhibition explores how the artists find themselves at home. Each artist searches for deeper connections to place in an effort to feel more at home in a world in flux. Honda, Reed, and Taylor, three friends who met and made work while in Kansas, each consider place in relationship to their unique backgrounds. Together, the artists of Place/Making speak to the realities of finding a home in the twenty-first century.

Honda showcases prints utilizing photolithography and screen printing to speak to her own displacement and lost connections to her homeland of Hawai’i. These prints combine figurative elements with both endemic and naturalized plants within the Hawaiian Islands, many sourced from her father’s garden. Having left Hawai’i for graduate school in Kansas, these works connect her to her multicultural background and speak to the reality of her current place away from home. 

Reed’s paintings and ceramic figures feature “Creatures” learning from more-than-human species counter-capitalist and anti-hegemonic ways of being in the world. Strange and fluid bodies navigate landscapes which are informed by Science Fiction and their local environment. Reed searches for relief from an intensely gendered human world by encouraging a wider lens which sees themselves in relationship to a larger non-human kin.

Sculptures by Taylor, combine a variety of mediums such as fiber, ceramic, and wood. These mixed media sculptures explore our connection to place and nature by engaging them as teachers. Made in part with foraged materials, the artist considers our entanglement with the more-than-human world through her creative research.

While each artist is on a unique journey of finding themselves at home, their shared time in Kansas has created friendships and undoubtedly inspired connections between their work. These connections and inspirations have made this shared place more enjoyable and might be an important method of surviving in a difficult world.

Artist talk with KBS Friday Ecology Seminar

I was honored to give a talk April 14th at the Friday Ecology Seminar hosted by the Kansas Biological Survey. On zoom and in person, it was recorded and uploaded to youtube. The talk covered the arts research I conducted at the University of Kansas Field Station which culminated in my thesis exhibition Afield.

MFA Thesis Show "Afield"

Afield is a solo thesis exhibition created by artist, Kirsten Taylor. This exhibition of mixed media sculptures explores our connection to place and nature. Inspired by the writings of Soren Larsen and Jay Johnson[1], Taylor immersed herself in the landscape, visiting the University of Kansas Field Station over the course of several years. The resulting exhibition is an intimate portrayal of the Field Station. Made in part with materials foraged from on site, the artist considers our entanglement with the more-than-human world through her creative research.

The exhibition is on view at the Edgar Heap of Birds and Family Gallery from March 22nd to March 31st, with an Artist Talk on March 23rd at 12 and a reception March 30th from 5-7pm.

[1] Soren Larsen and Jay Johnson, Being Together in Place: Indigenous Coexistence in a More Than Human World. University of Minnesota Press, 2017. 

Workshop at Anderson Ranch this summer

Some images from this summer’s workshop at Anderson Ranch Arts Center. It was an informative, refreshing and fun time. You can find out more about the instructor, Patrick Kingshill, at his website.

Seed bomb workshop at University of Kansas

Hosted by the Spencer Museum of Art and KU Commons, there are two “Bee Safaris” taking place this weekend. A tour of campus with knowledgeable experts and students celebrates spring and native bees. I will be giving a seed bomb making workshop at the conclusion of the tour. Participants will make wildflower seed bombs to take home. The safaris will take place on Friday, April 1st from 3-4pm and Sunday, April 3rd 2-3pm. The tour will begin in Marvin's Grove adjacent to the Spencer Museum of Art.

Natural Dye work featured in online exhibit

Work from my natural dyes class is featured in an online exhibit with Haricombe Gallery, Sitting in a Circle. The exhibit focuses on how University of Kansas professors and students have been engaging with KU’s common book, Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. I will be participate in a panel discussion about the exhibit and the common book on Thursday March 31st from 4-5pm. See the exhibit here.

A roundup of the Fall Semester 2021

Tallgrass Trip

Restoring and Redefining the Body Exhibit

Two of my recent works have been included in the Spencer Museum of Art’s virtual exhibition, Restoring and Redefining the Body. All of the work can be seen at www.spencerart.ku.edu. The show, “considers how we undergo restoration after mental and physical hardship, and how these experiences can help us redefine our perceptions of the body and mind”. I was drawn to this exhibition because the call asked the question, how are we connected through our physical experiences? During the pandemic, many of us have returned to nature seeking connection because we were unable to see and connect with others of our own species. Despite our isolation, we share the experience of returning to nature for solace.

Immerse Exhibit at the Waldron

I have been so very busy preparing to apply to grad programs this winter I have not been able to keep this space up to date. If you want to see what I have been up to though, you can visit a little installation of mine titled Immerse in the Vault Gallery at the John Waldron Arts Center. It will be on view until November 16th.

Kirsten Taylor, Immerse, 2019, Wool felt.

Penland Daydreams

Almost year ago now I was in tucked away in the Blue Ridge Mountains at Penland School of Arts and Crafts gaining skills in the art of paper making. Here are some memories and things that I made.