At VozEs we have conducted a very nice interview with Katrina Sánchez Standfield, who is originally from Panama and currently lives in Charlotte, North Carolina.
It has been an honor to talk about her textile art and to understand a little more about her artistic journey as a Latino immigrant in the United States. Her work makes viewers feel the vibrant colors and also experience that feeling of "hope and optimism" as she explains below.
How did your interest in art begin?
Every time we went to visit family in Panama, my grandmother was always sewing, knitting, she had things all over the house. She made tablecloths, she had a little rabbit that kept the rolls of toilet paper under her dress.
My mom too, she did things for me every year, she sewed all the time. The two of them taught me textile art and it wasn't until I entered university that I realized that this type of art can also be plastic art. Not only painting and sculpture are art, it was because of this that I began to study more and from there I have never stopped.
How do you make your art?
I have a machine that is used manually to weave and then I fill it with the same material that is used to fill stuffed animals. So that's how I knit it and that's mainly what I like to do. I also like to paint murals, I make rugs.
How is your design process?
It depends on the project, sometimes I do it in pieces and start a little bit with different colors. I like to play with colors and I see that I like them together, but almost always what I do is draw because it's faster. First I start with the shape to define if I want something long or big, sometimes I make some shapes that are different, I put colors to play with and I consider it important for my work. From there, I continue with the drawings, I put a kind of grid to know how much I have to weave of each color.
Why the dimension of your creations is in a large format?
When I started my work it was small because I was following the same example, but I wanted to make art that could be experienced by its shape, that you can look at and feel. You can feel the colors, the textures and that it is in that huge way that is like impressive, that's why I like to work so big for me it's more exciting. It is art to interact, the first pieces I call "magnifying weavings" the first one I did had other pieces that I call "netted noodles" on the floor and then everyone had the opportunity to play with the fabric to add more pieces and arrange it as everyone wanted, it was like a collaboration.
How do your life experiences as a Latina in the United States influence your art?
Yes, I think I have a conflict of identity because I live like between two worlds and it is hard and difficult not to be close to your family. Sometimes I feel that I have not been able to have the same relationship with my family because they are not close to me.
The family on my father's side is from here in the United States and I don't know them very well. I connect more with my family in Panama, my mom also misses being there a lot. Another thing that sometimes I start to think is that I think that all of us Latinos make family here, we make friends who are family. As a child I saw a lot that our friends did not have papers and then I saw how they could not do certain things, they could not work in places. So this is something that has also influenced me a lot because they are things that perhaps do not affect me directly, that is why I have a work called "a welcome passage" that is like a tunnel that you can walk through, it is all made of fabric, it is soft It is not like a wall or a fence and that is something that the borders should do because it is very difficult not to be able to have movement between countries.
How do you want people to connect with your art?
Whenever I talk to people they tell me that they want to "touch art" and that it is happy and optimistic art. What I love about my job is that it inspires that feeling of hope, optimism and being happy.
That's why I like that being something tactile and soft, it always has bright colors.
Where can we find your creations? We saw that you had an exhibition in California .
Yes, it was the first time I went to Los Angeles and it was because a gallery invited me to exhibit there. At an art fair called "spring break" and for that reason I was in Los Angeles for a week. I spent a few days exposing my work, talking with people and I really liked it. I love the!
I'm also painting a giant egg for CharlotteShout, I'm going to cover it with "netted noddles" and paint it. I'm going to add some small mirrors.
Another installation that I have is in Southend called «enlightened movements» it is also part of Charlotte Shout that is going to be there until March 20th.
What are the best memories you have with knitting?
The first knitting project I did was when my mom was pregnant with my little brother and I was wanting to make a blanket for the baby and I was thinking of making it very big because I was super excited.
So I started knitting very big and I knitted every night in front of the television. My grandmother was here at that time, she was there for about eight months and we knitted together, but I could never finish it. My brother was born earlier and I also made it too big and so it was more like a long scarf.
If someone wants to buy your art, where can they contact you?
You can find Kat on Instagram @fiberess and directly in her bio is information about her art and current exhibitions.
Photos taken from Instagram. Courtesy of the artist.
