Kirsten Harper
(she/her)
Exploring the decay, preservation and curation of objects, I found inspiration in the aging of old buildings like Rosslyn Chapel and Glasgow Cathedral, the methods of protecting and displaying artefacts in GSA’s Archives and through my own collection of oddities. My practice is motivated by texture, experimenting in transforming a textile’s qualities with the introduction of substances like wax or the removal of threads, as well as incorporating found materials such as vintage fur and animal bones. Each piece in the collection uses exclusively hand-stitch methods, and almost all my materials (including yarn and thread) were sourced second-hand – giving them a new purpose and allowing for tactile closeness to the past and present.
Heirlooms
Taking inspiration from the decay, preservation and curation of objects, my research took me to historic buildings like Rosslyn Chapel, through GSA’s archives and creating my own object compositions. My practice is motivated by texture and material which I incorporate into my drawing and sampling, often merging the two. As part of my tactile approach, I have confined myself to hand stitch alone – using expressive stitch-work to compliment a range of found materials and objects. A textile’s state and structure often guides my technique: staining informs the direction and density of a running stitch, and the thick weave of tartan inspires drawn thread work and insertion of fur scraps. Nearly all my materials, down to the yarn – surplus from Dovecot Studios’ yarn archives – have been sourced second-hand as part of my personal sustainability ethos and as a means of embedding past ‘relics’ into my work. The final designs for the body emphasise tactility, reconstruction and contrast imperfection with attention to detail – creating one-off, wearable heirlooms.
