Kate Bickel is an artist and designer based in Detroit, USA. She creates work across several mediums, including textiles, fiber, clay and printed matter. After receiving a BFA from College for Creative Studies in Craft and Material Studies - Kate's practice became focused on finding a balance between the interwoven yet distinct worlds of craft, fine art, and design.
Kate's practice is largely driven by the idea of sentiment in the objects she creates.
"My work is a reflection of my experience with memory. My practice is a form of collection and recollection - of making my own place in the world around me. Within my life, I often find myself collecting objects I encounter within my environments. They can anything from fallen acorns, shells embedded within a river’s bed, fossils from shorelines - the list goes on. These objects of inspiration are a major part of my making process, whether they are directly or indirectly inspiring my material and color languages. It is through these fragments of objects that I find myself as a maker, translating my experience in the world."
"When working with textiles, I am inspired above all to pay homage to the feelings of familiarity that the medium can bring. A friend of mine when viewing my work had once said, “I'm a firm believer that where there are textiles, there's familiarity. The very first object we interact with in the world is a textile; the blanket you are wrapped in after being born. Textiles have a rich sensitivity and tenderness that other materials just cannot replicate.” The women who have raised me throughout my life have been determined to show how fiber can be used as a vehicle for our emotions and expressions of love and care. I hope that those who interact and observe my work can feel some sense of belonging, a reminder of simplicity and of all things constant."
For commissions and inquiries - bickeltextiles@gmail.com
Instagram - @katetextile
