While the June 12th shooting targeting LGBTQ individuals in Orlando’s Pulse nightclub brought the victimized narratives of the LGBTQ community to the national stage, the coverage elicited a backlash of negativity steeped in societal perceptions of traditional American values of sexual expression, race, and gender. Likewise, tension between tradition and an evolving identity exists within the LBGTQ community, poignantly manifesting its expression within the vehicle of American craft. Traditionally associated with utilitarian objects within the domestic sphere, craft holds a unique space, simultaneously embodying and subverting the values of fine, decorative, and domestic arts to create an intersectional space for creative expression. Within this context, LBGTQ makers Nicki Green, Kris Grey, Nathan Vincent and Rebecca Levi emerge as agents of critique who push the gendered associations of ceramics and textile art. The ceramics artists, Kris Grey and Nicki Green, utilize ceramics to respectively sexualize objects of domestic utility and religious ritual, questioning the gendered conventions of spiritual and domestic practices within the home. Textile artists, Nathan Vincent and Rebecca Levi utilize the feminine associations of crochet and embroidery to critique gendered stereotypes of household objects and gender roles within the domestic environment. Through an analysis of their work in relation to the craft traditions and societal norms it emerges from, this presentation will explore how these makers utilize traditional practices and materials within craft to challenge conventional societal values of sex, gender roles, and domesticity.
About the presenterJohn-Duane Reardon Kingsley
I am currently a master’s candidate at the Smithsonian-Mason History of Decorative Arts Program in Washington D.C. My research focuses on challenges to traditional masculinity within fine and decorative arts. With prior work experience in museum education, I’m currently pursuing opportunities to expand my skill set in curatorial work to transition into the curatorial field.