Ali Kirsch
Davenport, IA
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
I think I would have always described myself as an artist, though as a young kid that came through in various combinations of puffy paint, paper scraps and sparkly beads. In high school, I became interested in pursuing more sophisticated, easily defined fine arts which took me to the University of Iowa printmaking program. While studying printmaking, I also received my degree in Art Education which landed me a job in the Pleasant Valley Community school district as an elementary art teacher. After teaching art for several years, I decided to go back to school to get my Masters in Art Education, as well as my Graduate Certification in book arts at the University of Iowa Center for the book.
It wasn’t until the pandemic hit in 2020 that I became interested in exploring fiber arts, which I attribute mostly to a desire to insert something cozy in a life that felt uncharted. To pursue this new field of fiber arts I took a graduate education course through an online institution which left me feeling both overwhelmed and electric. What I found in weaving was space. Working on a tapestry clears a space in your head and makes room for thoughts you weren’t aware were inside you. Weaving is a labor of love and progresses slowly. In order to complete the task you set out to do, there are many hours of solitary work involved. For me, that became a place to find mental clarity, as though each thread became a track for my thoughts to surface and manifest into the world. I’ve always been reflective about the way I create and process the world around me, weaving has become another way for me to connect with the world and question my role within it.
BIO:
Ali Kirsch is a graduate of the University of Iowa Art department and a current elementary art teacher in the Pleasant Valley CSD in the Quad Cities. Ali received her MA in art education and graduate certification at the University of Iowa Center for the Book in 2019. Shortly thereafter, she took a continuing education graduate course on fiber arts and since then has worked to refine her craft and pursue artistic commission work on the side. Being largely self-taught, she takes a free form approach to weaving, breaking conventional rules commonly found in the traditional art form. To Ali, weaving is in part a meditative practice, repetitive and slow, with each thread providing a track for your mind to unfold.