Kiki SlaughterKK Harris
Make no blunder about it: Kiki Slaughter is an artist at heart. The Richmond, Virginia–based painter-turned-textile designer is on a mission to make the world a much more wonderful area. “I am most inspired by the very act of staying innovative,” she tells Business of Home. “I attempt to produce perform that will make the viewer experience anything good and hopefully share that spark of electricity that developing the painting gave me.”
She first commenced experimenting with artwork at the tender age of 7, when she initial encountered painting as a result of her mentor, Karen Shea. “She was an outstanding artist and taught me almost everything she could about different artwork mediums and designs,” says Slaughter of Shea. “She confirmed me that staying a experienced artist was attainable.”
Slaughter studied artwork background at the University of Virginia just before enrolling at Sotheby’s Institute of Artwork in London, the place she attained a master’s degree in up to date art background. “The program was structured about the many vocation alternatives in the artwork environment, from gallery operator to art critic, or work at an auction household,” suggests Slaughter. “It was a interesting experience, and I returned dwelling with an even bigger understanding that getting an artist was the only route for me.”
A qualified artist because 2005, Slaughter generally felt her summary paintings—which function a medley of saturated hues and expressive linework—would translate effectively into textiles. “Being an artist and doing work intently with purchasers to identify the best painting for a area offered a normal bridge to interiors, as did decorating my possess residence,” she says. “I desired to consider my artwork over and above the canvas and into other decor.”
An assortment of textiles by Kiki Slaughter KK Harris
This thirty day period, Slaughter launched her inaugural dwelling line, a selection of six fabric and wallcovering designs based mostly on initial artworks. “This collection takes my painterly aesthetic to a new medium and will give any place a exclusive inventive contact,” she says. “I preferred to have another product to give to shoppers in addition to my paintings—another way to incorporate artwork to the home.”
All of Slaughter’s styles commence as blended-media paintings, which are digitized and turned into repeat styles with the assistance of textile printing business Twenty2. “I pour, scrape and manipulate the paint—adding levels in excess of time until finally I come to feel a balanced composition is attained,” she suggests. “The little-batch printing procedure makes sure each individual piece appears to be like and feels like an first perform of artwork.”
A choice of samples by Kiki SlaughterKK Harris
Consider, for occasion, her Dots sample, which offers a paint-soaked background contrasted with textured marks to make a modern choice to a basic polka-dot motif. Or Times, a kaleidoscopic print clad in a rainbow of unruly brushstrokes and amorphous organic shapes. “We realized the selection was prepared to launch when all of the strike-offs were being sprawled close to my studio floor and blended in beautifully with my coloration-saturated paintings,” claims Slaughter.
In addition to textiles, Slaughter also makes commissioned artworks for designers and shoppers across the place, together with Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Marigold Cafe at Keswick Hall in Virginia. “I am quite encouraged by a feeling of location, so it is in particular enjoyment to come across techniques to seize the real essence of a house,” she suggests.
Currently tricky at work on several new patterns, Slaughter has ideas to launch a line of lampshades—made in collaboration with a quickly-to-be named lighting artist—later this drop. “I hope to go on to extend my painting patterns into much more collaborations,” she suggests. “I generally want to be painting and building and functioning on initiatives that bring me these kinds of pleasure.”
If you want to discover a lot more about Kiki Slaughter, pay a visit to her web page or stick to her on Instagram.
Homepage image: An assortment of textiles by Kiki Slaughter | KK Harris