Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle Kingdom.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
My initial interest in hand embroidery began while in college, where I studied traditional fine art. This was around 1990 and the art world was dominated by work that was oversized, highly conceptual, ironic and impossibly clever. It mostly left me cold and I never thought art was a viable career path. Having had an interest in textiles, I dabbled in various mediums on my own. It was around that time that I started creating these odd, tiny stories in a thread and am self-taught. I didn’t show my embroideries to anyone and didn’t think anyone would even be interested. Over the years I only worked sporadically, sidetracked by adult life unfolding.
After my daughter was born, I began to pursue embroidery with a renewed sense of purpose. Now armed with decades of personal history and baggage, the medium seemed more relevant to me than ever. I slowly started to share my work on social media, happily surprised to find that others seemed interested too. There was no turning back, and my private passion became a mounting obsession. In 2014, encouraged by a few close friends, I eventually decided to dip my toe in the water, submitted to exhibit my work, and have been showing ever since.
Please tell us about your art.
I am an embroidery artist, though my technique is actually closer to drawing with thread. Conceptually I describe my work as an exploration of psychological landscapes. Through these tiny worlds in a thread, I hope to capture elusive yet persistent inner voices. I am interested in identity and relationships, and how our perceptions, particularly filtered through the lens of our psyche, shape our reality. The continual tension of opposing dynamics such as aspiration and limitation, expectation and loss, belonging and alienation, truth and illusion, intrigues me.
I am interested in exploring identity through the lens of self-perception and relationships, and how it shapes our reality. I’m a firm believer that pretty much everything in life amounts to more than just one thing, one explanation, one viewpoint. The continual tension of opposing dynamics such as aspiration and limitation, expectation and loss, belonging and alienation, truth and illusion, fascinates me.
Always figurative and often from a female perspective, my work is ultimately about the human experience; how we live our lives, the stories we tell ourselves, the history we choose to pass on, and the silences we leave behind. I am trying to capture the murky tangle of our interior world in a way that is both beautiful and haunting. My hope is that if the work rings true personally, it will resonate with others too.
What do you think about conditions for artists today? Has life become easier or harder for artists in recent years? What can cities like ours do to encourage and help art and artists thrive?
I don’t think I can speak to general conditions in the art world because my situation is fairly unique and a lot of my success is due in large part to social media. Within that realm, digital accessibility has opened up the art world and broadened possibilities. We now have the ability to customize our art exposure and consumption. It has essentially created a new path into a personalized art experience that may parallel the “serious” art world, completely diverge from it, or transform it into a hybrid.
As an artist, this allowed me to find an audience that I believe would have been more difficult for me to find in the past. My embroideries are unusual, do not easily fit into an accepted genre, and are fairly small in scale. They might be marginalized or overlooked in a traditional context. But online, particularly on a format like Instagram, a post of a 6 inch embroidered drawing carries the same weight as an installation.
The physical presence has been equalized, allowing for a newfound emphasis on personal resonance. It has also opened up a global marketplace which I believe does make it easier for artists to sell with or without a gallery. I think sites like Voyage LA are a good way to build community and bridge local and digital arenas.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
I do exhibit my work and just finished my second solo show last month in New York. Upcoming shows will be early 2019 in Santa Monica. My work is readily accessible through social media, where I have several accounts and my own website.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://michellekingdom.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michelle.kingdom/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Michelle-Kingdom-Embroideries-1471174383197048/?ref=bookmarks
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
