Textiles, Multimedia
Residency Dates: August 2025
Studio H Canada is thrilled to welcome Kristi Poole-Adler, a multidisciplinary visual artist from Whistler, BC, Canada. Her practice investigates the semiotics of language through ideas of intimacy, relationships, and the human experience in the form of text(tiles).
My practice explores the emotional and psychological terrain of romantic relationships in the digital age through text-based fibre works. Drawing from my own experiences using online dating apps, I investigate identity, intimacy, vulnerability, shame, and the desire for connection. These platforms—shaped by algorithms and performative selfhood—often encourage a kind of detachment, where endless scrolling replaces real intimacy, and emojis stand in for emotional labor. The experience is both addictive and exhausting, emblematic of a broader cultural fatigue.
In response, I turn to the handwoven: a deliberate act of resistance to the speed, disposability, and surface-level interactions of digital life. Weaving becomes a counterpoint, a practice rooted in slowness, attention, and embodiment. The meditative quality of fibre work offers a space for reflection and repair, both personally and culturally. Through softness, repetition, and care, I attempt to reclaim the emotional labor so often minimized in online exchanges, transforming ephemeral conversations into tactile, lasting forms. These works invite viewers to consider: Can the screen mediate our interactions and foster meaningful connections? What do we lose or gain from virtual communication?
About the Artist
Kristi Poole-Adler holds a BFA with honours from the University of Alberta and an MFA in the Interdisciplinary Master’s in Art Media and Design program from OCAD University. Her work has been exhibited in group shows in Canada and internationally. Kristi has been a resident at Artscape Gibraltar place (Toronto, Canada), The Icelandic Textile Center (Blönduós, Iceland), Kunstkollektivet 8B (Nykøbing, Denmark), and Praxis Fiber Workshop (Cleveland OH). She holds grants from the Elizabeth Greenshields foundation in 2017 and Canada Council for the Arts in 2023 and 2024.
You can learn more about Kristi and follow her on Instagram: noinstikristi.
The next artist joining Studio H Canada International Residency is Leslie Crabtree Savage from Toronto, Ontario, Canada also during August. Stay Tuned for more information about this artist.
Artists of all media and disciplines are welcome to apply to Studio H Canada International Art Residency – please check out the link here to apply.
Check out previous posts about artists here.
