Bio
Monika Kinner (she/her b.1970) is a recently disabled queer artist in Canada working with fibre, ecoprinting and sound to articulate the kinship between plants and people. Self-taught in needle arts, she learned the sacredness of place from her mother, a former child refugee who found great joy in working en plein air throughout her adult life on the prairie.
Monika has been a juried member of the Saskatchewan Craft Council since 2010. Her award winning work has been published, exhibited and commissioned locally, nationally and internationally. She has facilitated public and private workshops for people of all ages and varied abilities across western Canada.
A recipient of numerous SKArts grants and Canada Council for the Arts funding, Monika completed 3 summer residencies with the Biophilium, taking deep dives into botany and evolution with scientists and artists around the world. These endeavors inspired her to create an interactive exhibition allowing guests to experience awe by engaging them in plant/human communication. This exhibition, Next of Kin, has been selected to tour her home province for 3 years with the Organization of Saskatchewan Arts Councils (OSAC).
Through her involvement with the W.P. Fraser Herbarium (USASK), Monika is currently working on The Thelma Pepper Project which highlights women's contributions to science on a local level. Of the 330 prairie specimens collected by the late Pepper 50 years ago, Monika has curated a selection of these botanicals and is translating them with fabric and thread for public exhibition.
Artist Statement
My name is Monika Kinner. I am a contemporary textile artist working with plants and sound. My art explores the interdependence of all living things, notably the relationships between plants, people and place. My creations are direct results of glimmers - profound personal interactions with the overlooked, forgotten, and often misunderstood beings with which we coexist. I dedicate my life's work to connecting and sharing these moments using freestyle embroidery, alternative photographic processes and more recently, poetry and sonic field recording. Through ongoing observations and scientific pursuits I aspire to expand my artistic perspective beyond that of the human vantage point, prompting viewers an opportunity to shift their understanding of the natural world. I am grateful to make work that has the ability to evoke deep reverence for diversity and to nourish connections between species.