Square Dancing
Katherine Daniels

Square Dancing presents seven large ribbon canvases by Katherine Daniels. These canvases are hand-appliqued textiles made with varying widths and colors of grosgrain ribbon sewn onto silk, linen, and cotton fabrics. Daniels constructs them by interweaving and pinning the ribbons onto the fabric and hand sewing them together. This applique technique dates to ancient Egypt and was used to mend holes, strengthen fabrics, and add decoration.

This body of work is influenced by the “Eccentric Abstraction” movement in which artworks engage non-objective abstraction while using idiosyncratic, organic forms, materials that appear to be malleable and pliable, craft-based techniques, and often engage themes of gender and sexuality. Using the colors, textures and shapes of the textiles, she constructs forms and compositions to convey a sense of momentum, direction, and presence. This work rejects our machine and technology-based culture and is instead infatuated with and dedicated to the beauty of human touch and physical materials. The canvases in Square Dancing are made to encourage viewers to visually explore, move through, and connect with the work that surrounds them.

About the Artist

Katherine Daniels‘ beaded sculptures, weavings, and site-specific installations have been exhibited nationally and internationally, including throughout New York City, at the Hunterdon Art Museum in Clinton, NJ and in “To Weave Dreams”, at Miniartextil, Le Bellfroi Art Center in Montrouge, France. Her awards include a 2023 Artist Empowerment Award presented by Evercore and CUE Art Foundation, Puffin Foundation Grant, New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in painting, the Clare Weiss Emerging Artist Award for Public Art, two Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Manhattan Creative Communities Grants, and selection as a participant in the Bronx Museum’s “Artist in the Marketplace”. She has also received studio grants from the Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation. PS 122, the Henry Street Settlement, and ChaShaMa. Daniels earned a B.F.A. from Rhode Island School of Design and a M.F.A. from Northern Vermont State College in Vermont. Born in Idar Oberstien Germany, she was raised in Huntington, West Virginia and currently lives and works in New York City.

For more information on Katherine Daniels, visit her website and follow her on Instagram.