Margaret Kinkeade

I am interested in the domestic object as souvenir, the collection as identity and community connection through shared work with my research often focusing on American folk art and traditional craft with a particular focus on those objects and methods historically utilized by women. My most recent body of work has been inspired by American quilts with a particular interest in the perfectly imperfect quilts created by the everywoman. As a maker whose family line has its share of quilters, I see the fiber quilt as a way of making use of the discarded - giving the material a second life. By filtering traditional quilt patterns through my hand these haptic drawings allow me to enter into conversation with my great-great-great grandmother whose stitches warm my bed each night. Translating those patterns into clay came as a way to connect my chosen material to the ideas of tradition, community, ritual and function. These quilt arrangements only come into being as a result of their use. As the participants engage in the breaking of bread with strangers and friends alike they become active participants in the shaping of the “quilt” comprised of the plates from which they eat. Upon finishing their bread, they’re invited to choose the position of their plate on the wall of the gallery. Through this shared activity the audience is invited to connect and contribute as has been tradition in sewing circles for generations. The community together creates a configuration that will act as a fingerprint of the moment, the ritual, and the gathering with no two arrangements alike.

-- Margaret Kinkeade

Margaret Kinkeade was born in northeastern Oklahoma and after receiving her BFA in printmaking from the University of Oklahoma she went on to earn her MFA in ceramics from Penn State University. She currently lives in Kansas City, Missouri teaching workshops and contributing as adjunct faculty to the Kansas City Art Institute’s ceramic program as well as working from her home studio.