Interview with Katie Bonadies, March 2024
Ken Gilligan is an artist who primarily works in gouache painting and fiber arts. They also like printmaking. They have been a member since November 2023.
Gilligan is interested in many different fiber arts and has done a lot of indigo dyeing recently. They also do a lot of knitting, some needle felting, and he is learning to weave. They spin their own fiber and yarn as well and go to vintage stores in search of linens that may be stained or torn that otherwise may not be purchased. Indigo can easily cover the yellowing from age and marks from food or rust, along with some mending or embroidery a piece is given new life. Vintage pieces are great candidates for Shibori dyeing because most are natural fibers like cotton, linen, and wool, and can be dyed with indigo with ease. Gilligan's work is eclectic and they joke that “If nothing matches, it all goes together.”
Right now they are working on creating simple studies in fiber on coffee bags so that they can ‘learn the rules’, and when they are ready they can really play with color and texture and the way the different elements of the mixed media play together. They work at Tandem where they source natural fiber coffee bags from various places around the world, including Ethiopia, Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras, and Guatemala.
The coffee bags started as an idea to make curtains for themselves that evolved into an idea for a series of pieces, including one for Gilligan’s brother who is a big supporter of their creativity and has a few test pieces hanging on his walls. Due to the loose weave of the jute bags they are able to use a crochet hook to embroider them, almost like Tambour embroidery, but on a much larger scale. Some of the bags have text, others have color that can be incorporated into a finished piece. Gilligan has been experimenting with the bags for about a year and is currently figuring out what they want to do with them. They know it will incorporate the bag’s printed art and chain stitches, a technique in sewing and embroidery that uses loops to create a chain-like pattern. Gilligan has ADHD and works on a lot of projects at once because they get bored easily. He is looking for a niche where he can combine his interests. The coffee bags feel like a good way to do that because they can embroider, paint, and needle felt into them.
Gilligan also works at Port Fiber and has access to a dye kitchen and a lot of yarn. They have done some of the indigo dyeing on yarn as well as natural dyeing using fruits and vegetables like onion skins and cochineal, an insect that lives on prickly pear cacti that is dried and powdered, that can create deep red colors to soft pinks. Indigo is easier to work with because you don’t have to mordant the fiber–a process in which a mineral salt is applied to fiber to prepare so that the dye will bond with it–like you do with natural dye in order to get durable, long-lasting color. Gilligan acquired a lot of white wool with a good weight when MECA&D was clearing out a storage unit and they’re trying to figure out what colors they want to dye it. They often feel inspired when they peruse the lending library at Port Fiber or watch people weave. “Craft requires technical skills and artistry,” Gilligan is inspired by technique and is stuck on weaving and three-dimensional things right now. They will see different weavings, different textures, or the way someone has incorporated something and that inspires them to want to try new things. Once they learn the basics of weaving they plan to combine it with their other fiber interests into wall tapestries.
Gilligan has ‘busy hands’ and knitting is great because they can do other things at the same time. Knitting has always been an undercurrent for them and they also usually carry a sketchbook in which they paint small studies of things like flowers and food. They had a job as a cook for ten years and took a 10-week cooking course for adults in Sicily to study its culinary arts. Each week had a different focus and a travel day when he would go places and take photos and write and sketch. Going to the markets was fun because of the farmers’ appreciation for ingredients and the time it takes to care for them, “This is an animal; this is meat. There is no disconnect, it is not born wrapped in plastic.” They have some framed photographs hanging on their studio wall with several images from the trip, one of which includes primal cuts of animals hanging from meat hooks. It’s an image they’ve painted and made a block print of and it has them thinking about some light pink yarn Casey at Port Fiber dyed to possibly create a 3D crocheted piece.
Renting a studio at RWS has been a way for Gilligan to work through their ideas in a hands-on way and it has them thinking about what they want to say with their work, but for now they are happy to make things for themselves and enjoy the process. Gilligan really enjoys being able to come to the studios for as long or as little as they want and that their set up is no longer six feet from where they sleep. There’s only one thing they can do here and that’s make art; that is what this space is for. Plus, interacting with the community and seeing what everyone else is working on too makes them feel like all things are possible.
Contact Ken Gilligan via email, knagillig@gmail.com.
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