Using traditional techniques of weaving and drawing, I create sculptural pieces infused with the language of love, loss, and anxiety. My discordant tapestries are fiber memoirs. These highly textured works combine many sources of materials: drawings, hand- and machine-woven fabrics, banners of text, wooden blocks and, most important, glitter. My love of fiber and illustration as both a technique and a symbolic presence imbues these emotional, often humorous pieces.

Drawing inspiration from diasporic objects that reside in Western museums, my paintings serve as a platform to recontextualize, interrogate, and unravel the layers of colonial legacy.

I do not consider my work to be about trauma, but it is based around it. I do consider my work to be about life and about my experience as a human. It is an abstract, diaristic approach to talk about the things I find difficult to be vulnerable about.

My paintings are inspired by my Iranian heritage and “western” contemporary art. The ephemerality of beauty is a subject that I investigate through my art. In my approach to painting, I counter-balance minimalist restraint with detailed, repetitive brush-strokes. My paintings explore contrasts: East versus West, moderation versus excess, and handmade versus machine made. The labor intensiveness and minuteness of my work is influenced by Persian miniature painting, calligraphy, and weaving practices in the East and Latin America.

Katherine Akey is an artist based in San Francisco, CA. Her work addresses adventure, conflict, and the negative space in personal and collective memory with a focus on polar exploration and the First World War. Her practice includes photography, printmaking, fiber arts, and creative writing. She has an MFA from the International Center of Photography, was a Fellow with the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, and teaches photography and art theory.