ANTHER KILEY MFA 13 GD

CARDKITS

Based in Providence, RI

*Emerging Artist Award Winner, 2019

How does your current creative practice tie into your time spent at RISD?

I currently divide my time between teaching in the Graphic Design Department at RISD, doing freelance graphic design work, and developing Cardkits, the line of toys I am exhibiting at RISD Craft. Although only my freelance design practice directly applies a classic set of graphic design skills, all of these activities are enabled by my graphic design training. My Cardkits project, in particular, was shaped and framed by the ideas I explored in my master’s thesis at RISD. My thesis research explored the intersection of utopian spaces, play, and aesthetics, and Cardkits exist exactly at this intersection.

Tell us about some of your main sources of inspiration.

The direct inspiration for Cardkits are the elaborate toy cities I built for myself as a child. I grew up in an artistic family without many commercial toys, and started building my own when I was around 9 years old. Eventually I had constructed an entire miniature world, in elaborate detail.Like many children’s toys, my world functioned as a safe, bounded spaces where I could freely explore aspects of my environment that fascinated me—urban spaces, infrastructure, and all the visible and invisible systems that make the world tick. These systems, and their artifacts and aesthetics, have always been my real inspiration, both then and now.

Is there a work/body of work that you are particularly excited about sharing with us at RISD Craft this year?

I’ll be sharing pre-production editions of Cardkits, my line of children’s toys, along with prototypes of kits that will be available in the future.Cardkits combine the hands-on rewards of traditional build-it-yourself toys with the appeal of creative world building. Each kit consists of a set of printed and pre-cut card stock parts that assemble into one element of a miniature world. The kits assemble quickly and easily, and once assembled, are full of interactive moments that invite play. Cardkits are ethically and environmentally responsible toys. They are produced locally, in RI and NH, using sustainably sourced paper, and are 100% recyclable.

How have you dealt with the challenge of maintaining a creative practice that feeds your soul but also helps pay the bills?

This year has been an experiment in re-balancing my practice. Previously, I had been teaching full time and co-directing a design program. It was a rewarding position, but also utterly consuming! I struggled to integrate my position as the director and representative of a design program, with an eccentric personal practice that was not directly engaged with hot button conversations in the field of graphic design. I’m now teaching part time, freelancing occasionally, and working on my Cardkits toy line all the time. It’s a situation that has allowed me to apply myself to all the aspects of my practice with new energy and authenticity. I’ve relinquished some financial and schedule security, but the rewards have been worth it.

Any recent press, exhibitions, achievements or awards you’d like to share with us?

Yes! Cardkits debut with a show at World’s Fair Gallery in Providence on Saturday September 14, followed by a Kickstarter launch on Tuesday, September 17.

Sign up for the Cardkits email newsletter: cardkitstoys.com

Follow Cardkits on Instagram: @cardkits

To see more of Anther’s work, visit cardkitstoys.com.

Juliane Gorman 84 TX

Felt Happiness

How does your current creative practice tie into your time spent at RISD?

When I attended RISD, we studied many interesting textile techniques, but we didn’t do feltmaking. However, as students, we were fortunate to have access to a treasure room filled with fantastic wool fibers. Serendipitously, one Saturday night, a friend and I made ‘freestyle felt.’  Knowing the properties of wool from our Fibers and Dyeing class, we knew that agitation and temperature cause wool to shrink. So, we experimented by dancing and throwing snow upon on it. As if trying to tell me something, I felted a hat which looked like a rooster.

After that all that fun, I promptly forgot about feltmaking. For my degree project at RISD, I made over-sized, sculptural mask-headdresses out of found-objects, cardboard, wire, and hand-painted silk fabric. No felt and not exactly practical.

Following graduation, I spent much time trying to figure out ‘what I wanted to do with my life.’ Eventually, I received my MLIS (Masters in Library Science) and worked for a database company and at public libraries. Then, life intervened and figuring out what I wanted to do became less important. I merely did what needed doing because now I was the mom of a couple of tiny people.

Finally, a few years shy of my 50th birthday, I rediscovered feltmaking.  After purchasing a felted bracelet at a craft fair, I thought, “I need to learn how to do this!” So, I went to the library and ‘Fabulous Felt Hats,’ a book by Chad Alice Hagen, jumped into my arms.

As they say, ‘the rest is history.’ I started making hats and now cannot stop. As I create hats, each one inspires me to make the next one. Hence, the creative thinking process that I learned at RISD, continues. Best of all, I now know what I want to do when I grow up!

What are some of the most important practices for your creative process?

There are three aspects that I love about making felted hats: the transformative power, the practicality (it’s warm!), and the not-quite-necessary element of whimsy.

Unlike other creative endeavors, millinery requires a human to complete it. A hat without a wearer is incomplete. Moreover, when a person tries on a hat, it comes alive. It grows and becomes more magnificent as headwear and face interact. Additionally, a hat surprisingly appears to change when worn by a different person. This transformation of both what I make, and the wearer is one of the most rewarding aspects of my practice.

The second rewarding aspect of making work from felted wool is that my hats are functional. As you know, wool fibers insulate and therefore my hats are warm. Additionally, my pieces are easy to care for – just hand wash in cold water. After all, soap and water are part of my feltmaking ‘tools.’

Lastly, I love creating a wearable that has a bit of whimsy to it because it brings a smile to the wearer’s life.

Tell us about some of your main sources of inspiration.

Surprisingly, anything can inspire a hat. Inspiration can be as obvious as needing to make more of a popular hat style, such as cloches, which have sold well. Other times, hat inspiration comes from the usual suspects – nature, such as oak leaves or watermelon rinds.

Or inspiration can come from more unusual sources. For example, when I moved to Pittsburgh six years ago, I was amazed by how many bridges the city has – 446!  Additionally, it amused me to see the preponderance of black and gold decorating the town to ‘honor’ the local sports teams. Most of all, custom orders bring unexpected sources of inspiration. One of my favorite custom orders was a request for a beret inspired by Gustav Klimt’s “The Kiss.”

Is there a work/body of work that you are particularly excited about sharing with us at RISD Craft this year?

Typically, I work by making a small series of hats based around a theme. As I get bored quickly, the number in a series is quite limited – usually, seven at the max. Hence, what I will be bringing to RISD Craft is slightly an unknown!

Nonetheless, within my work, there are two ‘lines.’ First, there are my more ‘conservative-looking’, everyday-chic hats that you could wear to shovel the driveway or go to the shops.  Secondly, there are my more extravagant, fantasy hats that you could wear to parties or festivals. Of course, you could wear a fantasy hat to shovel as they are also cozy! And who is to say what can and cannot be worn?

As RISD is a fantastic art school that welcomes the unusual, I will aim to create extra-exciting, one-of-a-kind hats.

Any recent press, exhibitions, achievements or awards you’d like to share with us?

The majority of what I make is destined to be shared and sold on my website and at craft fairs. However, this year, I managed to submit two over-the-top, Art Hats to two international hat events. In the Spring, my Vegas Creamsicle Headdress, an over-sized peach-colored floral hat, was part of an exhibition at London Hat Week. In July, my ‘Long and Winding Road’ wizard hat was part of the annual BeanieFestival in Alice Springs, Australia.

To see more of Juliane’s work, visit felthappiness.com.

ASHLEY SCHWEBEL 10 ID

Design WhatHaveYou

How does your current creative practice tie into your time spent at RISD?

I studied Industrial Design at RISD, but in my studio practice I make jewelry, as well as sculptural work and paintings. The foundational ethos and workflow of the design process that I learned while studying Industrial Design, I utilize throughout my creative work, including my more “fine art” work that I create.

Tell us about some of your main sources of inspiration.

Working with concrete is an inspiration in itself. So much of our everyday world is made from concrete, not only buildings and infrastructure, but designed objects as well. I studied architecture before I came to RISD, so I’ve always been inspired by buildings and structures and working with concrete I look at a lot of brutalist buildings, and concrete infrastructure. Also, I draw a lot of inspiration from just living, working, and being in an urban environment.

Is there a work/body of work that you are particularly excited about sharing with us at RISD Craft this year?

I’ve recently been experimenting with different colors and incorporating new, different semi-precious stones into my jewelry pieces. I love the interplay between the natural stone and the produced or cast “stone”. The surface texture that comes from pairing the natural stones with the concrete is really satisfying.

Any recent press, exhibitions, achievements or awards you’d like to share with us?

Earlier this year I had one of my concrete and steel art pieces included in the group show “Fresh Faces” at the Abigail Ogilvy Gallery in Boston. I also just did an interview with Boston Voyager Magazine.

To see more of Ashley’s work, visit designwhathaveyou.com.