Interview with Abigail Kokai!
Scribble Art Studio's ultra talented sewing and fibers instructor! Abigail is one of those people who gets 27 hours out of a 24 hour day. Whether she is teaching a workshop of 20 or working one on one, Abigail shows a huge amount of patience, energy, and excitement!
Where are you from originally?
The small town of Clyde, Ohio.
What kind of art do you make?
Quilts that tell stories.
How would you describe your art? your process?
Quilts are domestic objects that preserve a record of time and place. I keep sketches and write stories of memorable day-to-day experiences, be it mundane or remarkable. My sketchbook reads more like a simplified graphic novel, full of text and drawings. Occasionally, a moment will invite particular colors and patterns that I abstract to create a geometric quilt pattern. Then I figure out how to insert the text and line drawing into the quilt surface. When the quilt is done, it is layered with fabric and meaning...and purpose as a functional item.
Why do you like to work with kids?
Kids are little people that are always excited about learning new things. Art is such an abstract subject, it allows one to learn so much about the world and in so many different ways. Making art lets them explore the most essential of all life skills: creative problem solving. And sewing with kids gives them a hands-on awareness of 'how things are made'. That is such a fundamental concept, yet often overlooked. And when a child has finished an art project that you know they really had to think about and figure out, the joy in their expression is palpable.
That, and it's just really fun to be creative and make things.
What inspires your art? Your life?
Social interaction and the obscurities about people. It's kind of difficult to look at a squirrel and think, "Hmm, that is one very bizarre squirrel." But pass a few people walking down the street, and chances are you'll recall at least two that kind of stick out in your mind. Perhaps it was a cologne you noticed from someone, or the outdated fanny pack around someone's bulging waistline. Those are the things that make people obscure creatures. And those are the things that become the memorable day-to-day experiences.
Who are some of your artistic influences?
Graphic novelists: Craig Thompson, David B., Andi Watson
Artists: Jacob Lawrence, Trent Doyle Hancock, Aminah Robinson, Nick Cave
If you could meet any artist from history alive or dead who would you want to meet and why?
Benjamin Franklin. Talk about a creative problem solver!
If you could own any piece of art from history or modern day to look at every day what would you want to have?
Any small piece of early Inuit animal carving. Preferably of some ocean mammal. Or just lots of small pieces of early Inuit animal carvings.
