Katie Mongoven/上秋莲 (b. 1995) is a Chinese American fiber artist from Shanggao, China and Washington, DC, currently based in Detroit, MI. Rooted in fiber processes, her work investigates and fortifies the space between cultural dichotomies through embroidery, papermaking, weaving, and hand-dyeing. She received her BFA from the University of Michigan and MFA in Fiber from Cranbrook Academy of Art with the Surface Design Association’s Outstanding Student Award (2024). She was a Roman J. Witt Visiting Artist at the University of Michigan (2024), a Windgate University Fellow at Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts (2023), and is the Barstow Artist-in-Residence at Central Michigan University with a forthcoming solo exhibition (2024). Other solo and group exhibitions include the University of Michigan Medicine (2023), Playground Detroit (2024), Art Clvb (2024), ROY G BIV Gallery (2023), and Vermont Studio Center (2020). She has public and corporate commissions at the Cranbrook Art Museum, PayTile, and Cross River Bank. Her work is held in public collections at Summa Health and MetroHealth and in numerous private collections throughout the United States.
By blending various textile mediums and materials, I explore the space between here and there, fate and free will, and past and present. Fibers allow for process-based work where the methodology can contribute to my investigations of identity, fragility, and globalization. I examine the cultural and social intersections of an Asian American identity as a result of China’s One Child Policy. How does religion steady life’s unpredictability? What do we gain, but also equally importantly, lose with new knowledge? How can we redefine "ornamentalism" as a symbol of Asiatic female autonomy and resist objectification and commodification?
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