Kayla Powers

Name: Kayla Powers

Studio location: Detroit, MI

Website / social links: SaltTextileStudios.com, @salt.textile.studios

Loom type or tool preference: I love my Varpapuu Finlandia countermarche

Years weaving: 8

Fiber inclination: cotton, linen, wool

Current favorite weaving book: It’s not a book but I love the quarterly journal from Surface Design Association

 

 

1. How did you discover weaving and was what your greatest resource as a beginner?

I discovered weaving in the basement of the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts. There was a room full of looms and a group of women talking and laughing and weaving. I signed up for a class not really knowing what I was getting myself into. The greatest resource for me then (and now) was community. The women in my classes had years (decades!) of experience and were so generous with their knowledge.

2. How do you define your practice – do you consider yourself an artist / craftsperson / weaver / designer / general creative or a combination of those? Is this definition important to you?

I am a weaver and a natural dyer and I also identify as a place-based artist. It’s important to me because the work is important to me but I’m not one to get hung up on a title.

3. Describe your first experience with weaving.

I first experienced weaving while working on a farm in the Hudson Valley in New York. We made some tiny cardboard “looms” to weave the freshly spun sheep’s wool. To experience the full circle of the process from the very beginning has definitely informed my relationship to weaving.

4. What is your creative process, from the initial idea to the finished piece? Are there specific weave structures, looms, or fibers that are important to your process?

Every day I go walking with my backpack, shears, plant ID book and my dog. Sometimes I’m gathering a certain plant, sometimes I’m just seeing what’s growing. Usually I have a project in mind and I’m gathering plants to sample dyes on different fibers. Walking is also very conducive to thinking and I do a lot of processing while I’m outside on a walk.

Most of my work is done in plain weave. There is something fundamental about cloth woven in a simple over under pattern that makes me feel most connected to the history of the craft.

5. Does your work have a conceptual purpose or greater meaning? If so, do you center your making around these concepts?

I think my work has greater meaning in that it is telling a story about a place and a time and through it I can communicate all sorts of ideas about culture and humanity. But something I love about textiles is their familiarity and accessibility. For me the work is more about the tactile experience than the intellectual conceptions.

 

6. What is your favorite part of the weaving process and why? What’s your least favorite?

My favorite part is when the loom is dressed and the bobbins are wound and the header has been woven in. It feels so good to begin. My least favorite part is the very tedious finishing work of weaving the ends in or knotting the fringe etc.

7. Do you sell your work or make a living from weaving? If so, what does that look like and how has that affected your studio practice?

I do make a living from my work. I have a website where I sell my woven goods and I also teach quite often. It is risky to try to monetize something sacred. But for me the pros outweigh the cons.

8. Where do you find inspiration?

Detroit is a fascinating city for many reasons and I find so much inspiration here. I am most inspired by the wild spaces within the city. There are these wide open areas of land that feel like urban prairies. Spotting a fox or a pheasant among the goldenrod and the queen anne’s lace where there once was a home or a church or a school. It’s a reminder to be gentle and to move slowly and look closely. These lessons inform my work.

9. What other creatives do you admire – weavers, artists, entrepreneurs – and why?

I really admire the work WildCraft is doing in Portland, OR. They have created a place for people to come together to learn traditional craft practices in a way that is supportive of artists and educators.

Some contemporary weavers I admire are Margo Wolowiec, Christabel Balfour, and Kayla Mattes. Their styles are all very different but feel so authentic and original.

10. If you could no longer weave, what would you do instead?

If I couldn’t weave anymore I think I would grow food and flowers.

Do you have any upcoming exhibits, talks, or events the community should know about?

I wove a series of tapestries using locally foraged dye plants. The finished pieces were installed on The Dequindre Cut, a public greenway in Detroit, during the month of September. The project is called Local Color and there is more information about it on my website.