Katya: Publicity

artist's statement

My family immigrated from Minsk, Belarus to the suburbs of Cleveland in 1992, when I was 11 years old. This major transition made me feel like a fish out of water for most of my awkward teenage years and it really wasn’t until I embraced my roots that I felt like I could develop my own voice.

I am a fiber artist. I use thread and yarn as three-dimensional image-making tools. Although some may see fiber arts as mere “crafting,” to me it is as valid a medium as any of the traditional fine arts. Embroidery and knitting are timeless forms of human expression that have a hidden history. Seen as women’s work, and mainly utilitarian, they were not welcomed into the gallery world. My work seeks to build on these notions of femininity, family and tradition, while introducing fiber arts into the contemporary art world.

I feel empowered to use art-making techniques taught to me by my grandmother, and through processes I learned in art school, transform them and create something new. I enjoy using a once-silent, “women’s art form” to create dynamic portraits of women in my life who inspire me. The slow meditative process and repetitive motion of the art form feel natural and organic and I see it almost as a form of resistance against the pace of contemporary life. Handmade pieces keep the humanity of the artist in the forefront, which is a very important concept to me in terms of my work.

-Katya Usvitsky
2009

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