Artist Statement

small edition collections having their origins in fine art photography

I love the magic of refashioning photographic images into textile designs and sensual moving wearable art. The inspiration for doing this began in the summer of 2012. As part of a solo exhibition of my photographs in Mexico, I printed a 4 x 12 foot composite photograph on silk. It was hung as a floating vertical installation in the gallery entranceway. When I first saw it--shape shifting in the wind, backlit by the Mexican sun--I was transported. I experienced the images in a different, and a much more sensual way.

wearable art

The installation evoked the drama of theatre, the sensuality of dance, the timelessness of classic design. I started to work with my photographs in new ways. I began to play with them, treating them as “scraps of material” I could fashion into new forms. As the designs were created, I experimented with printing them on various fabrics. In the end I selected silk, and cotton-silk blends, for two reasons. First, printing on this medium produces the most nuanced elegant results, having the greatest detail, brilliance and colourfastness. Second, silk and cotton-silk blends are extremely soft, luxurious fabric that are both versatile and durable.

celebrating beauty and an invitation to come into closer contact with your senses

What I love most about photographing is connecting with the spaciousness of "present" moments--the experience of being immersed inside wonder at the fresh vividness of the world. Later, I work with these photographs to create textile designs and small edition wearable collections which celebrate that vividness, and extend an invitation to experience it in even more sensuous and intimate ways.

May we walk in beauty and "kiss the world" with our eyes each day.

kateMCKENNA

small edition collections, designed and crafted in Nova Scotia.

katemckennadesign@gmail.com

www.kmckenna.com

https://instagram.com/katemckennadesign