Residency Dates: October 1-31, 2023
Studio H Canada is thrilled to welcome Laura Kunciūtė (she/her) (b. 1993 in Kaunas, Lithuania) as the first artist in residence for the Irene Borins Ash Commemorative Textile Residency.
Laura is a visual artist and designer currently based in Florence, Italy, working with the medium of textiles and new material combinations. As part of her residency at Studio H Canada, Laura will undertake the “Memorial Cloth” project, which includes creating a humble woven cloth that transforms into a ‘power-object’ or an energy-filtering textile using weaving and material conservation techniques.
About the Artist
As an artist, Laura creates her work by questioning the idea of materials retaining memories and the existence of energy-filtering artifacts. To answer this question, Laura has developed personal techniques of fabric manipulation – charring textiles with smoke (similar to that used for black ceramics), forming a unique fabric-like carbon, and mending glassworks with textile.
Laura graduated with a BA in Fine Arts and Textiles at the Vilnius Academy of Arts in Lithuania as well as completing Design courses in Bradford College and the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. Her artwork has been showcased in galleries and exhibitions in New York Textile Month, USA, United Kingdom, Lithuania, Belarus, Spain, and the Czech Republic.
Laura’s artworks have been recognized by a number of prestigious awards, such as Reed Rejuvenate Europe Design Award for sustainable design development, A. & A. Tamosaitis Honorary Textile Grant for revival of ancient Lithuanian textile techniques, and the Dorothy Waxman Textile Art Prize Finalist as a trend forecaster of textiles for the future.
Links to social media accounts
Instagram: @laura.kunciute
Facebook: https://facebook.com/laura.kunciute
Website: https://www.behance.net/laukunhttps://memoire.space (under construction)