KATE HERRON GENDREAU
I am a maker, museum person, and arts educator. I embroider, quilt, research, and teach. Hand stitching is my jam. Embroidery and quilting are my core mediums, but I also knit, weave, and mend.
My creative practice stretches back over a decade and is rooted in sustainability, thrift, empowerment through participation in alternative economies, and in uniting patterns and techniques of the past with progressive aesthetics, theory, and values.
I am passionate about keeping traditional textile art forms alive, while subverting and opening them up for modern and inclusive communities. I am drawn towards creating pieces that might not make it into a quilt or needlework show—the seams may not intersect precisely, the overall canvas may not be mathematically square, but they sing of human heart and hand, of honesty and artistic expression. They stand as a soft but steady challenge to the values of the industrialized world.
My Grandmother was an avid seamstress who taught me to sew by hand at a young age and it’s stayed with me all my life. I double majored in art history and studio art in college and went on to graduate with an MLA in Museum Studies from Harvard University’s School of Continuing Education. Though I left my home state of Michigan to work and study, I found that the stitches of my childhood became a comforting and affordable means of expression throughout this time.
After living and working on the east coast for 13 years, I now reside in Detroit, Michigan with my husband and all the cats. I like to eat, garden, read, and go on shoe-string adventures whenever possible.
CONTACT
Email: info@khgarts.com
Instagram: @KHGarts