"As I spend time with the wood, carving, removing material, refining the surfaces and refining the wounds, the knots lighten, the knots loosen.
I call them “Partially Undone” and that’s all they can ever be. They are gestures rendered slowly in between being fully tightened and unraveled. They are given the allowance and power to be perpetually unresolved. They are objects of tension that bind nothing in place but their own existence, and they will never come undone. My “Partially Undone Knots” pass as knots - as not-wood. Until they are handled, the weight, or lack thereof, defies what is conventionally expected of the dark hue, and the drapery of the strands holds its form as its moved through space. They are wooden and unmoving, and this is only fully understood once you hold them in your hands, wear them and move with them.
There is no moment of resolution, only development as they are lived with – and this ongoing relationship is how we work against alienation."
Steven KP (He/They) is an artist, jeweler, and educator based in Providence, Rhode Island. Currently a Visiting Lecturer at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, KP received their MFA in Jewelry and Metalsmithing from the Rhode Island School of Design and holds a BFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. KP’s studio practice is centered around investigations of empathy, material culture, and queer experience. KP is a 2017 Windgate Fellow awarded by the Center for Craft, Ashville, NC USA and a winner of the 2020 Marzee Prize from Gallerie Marzee in Nijmegen, NL.
steven KP
he/they
What does [queerphoria] mean to you? This can be something felt, experienced, or made.
“queerphoria brings to mind the unique place of *joy* that chosen communities can cultivate. Solidarity and ways of being together that is different than other relationships The fact that we get to cultivate, care for, and share in reciprocity with those beyond our blood and of different, but shared experiences is something i think that leads to such a beautiful richness in queer spaces and relationships (romantic/platonic/chosen familial). And even when one
grows up in a family surrounded by love and stability, as everyone should, the experience of
inhabiting a body that is “othered” by a hegemonically heteronormative society naturally leads one to seek out others who have endured the same.
At the same time these past few years have been a time where we have had to do such unfashionable things - rest, break, disconnect - and that can be scary. It also brings to mind all of those we have lost, familial or from our chosen family. I work a lot with my ancestry, what's in my blood, what I was steeped in as a child. But that is a portion of who I am in these families. Connections, touch - they're complicated things. They aren't neat, straight lines, they're kinked - bent over - onto themselves.”
relief, necklace, Ebonized carved cherrywood, deerskin leather, oxidized sterling silver, 21x2x1x25", 2022
“When made other, a body comes under stress. Space ceases to conform to its presence and movements. The societal structures that are meant to guide, support, and confine the conventional body all fail and fall short. To pass is to be seen as the conventional or the expected. Passing is an allowance to exist without constant fear of retaliation for being your authentic self in a system where authenticity is antagonistic, undesirable, other, queer.
The knot works became an opportunity to explore the un-ending, ongoing nature of living with trauma in a way that allowed me to embrace the tenderness and slowness that working with it required. When I approach the blank of wood, the knots and their forms are already within. As I spend time with the wood, carving, removing material, refining the surfaces and refining the wounds, the knots lighten, the knots loosen.
I call them “Partially Undone” and that’s all they can ever be. They are gestures rendered slowly in between being fully tightened and unraveled. They are given the allowance and power to be perpetually unresolved. They are objects of tension that bind nothing in place but their own existence, and they will never come undone. My “Partially Undone Knots”
What does being queer mean to you in relation to your material choices? Is it something you consider?
“I’m not sure if work can ever in and of itself be queer. It may come from a queer perspective or methodology outside of the norm – but the work needs to be activated and positioned in order to act as a “queering” device- whether that be disruption or against alienation and towards community. In this context, I like to think of queer not as a noun or a adjective placed upon bodies or objects categorically – but as a verb, queering or displacing a predisposition or expectation. Queer – not in the sense of what things have come to be known as or accepted as “queer” but in the sense as not in line with the accepted. “
Is the work queer because the maker is queer, or is it queer because the subject matter is queer?
gatherings, necklace, Ebonized carved cherrywood, deerskin leather, oxidized sterling silver, pendants range from 3-6" 38" cord, 2022
“My studio practice is central to my identity as a person. I work in processes, materials, and with histories that I relate to and can sympathize with. Material empathy – practicing listening, working with – rather than working through and controlling/mastering a material is a practice that I hold central to my personal life as well as my "queer" philosophy. Carving is a slow process, it requires a lot of time spent with the material, caring for it, living with it. It is not something you can rush. These realities shape how I feel about my role as a maker - I have to care for this object that will then go out into the world.”
What role does your studio practice play in your identity- if at all?
relief, necklace, Ebonized carved cherrywood, deerskin leather, oxidized sterling silver, 21x2x1x25", 2022
“When I set out to make a piece – the first thing I think about is the objects relationship with the wearers body – how it affects a physical human as it is worn, carried, seen, et al. One of my favorite things about work in jewelry is that my work – while it comes from a specific context and perspective – is that it gets to change and live its life as an autonomous object with its wearer. I can create context – photography, writing, etc. – that positions it as ‘from” a place of queerness and criticality. But in the end it is the responsibility of the wearer/collector/viewer to bring their lived experiences into conversation with that work of labor and care. It’s a practice of trust and that I think speaks to our hopes towards queer, radical love – more than just being “seen” ever could.”
When creating your work, do you consider the relationship your object has with the viewer?
We've asked you a lot of our questions... What is one thing you would like to share?
“I have a really good two-year-old Dachshund named Finnegan. Follow my Instagram stories for updates from Finn.”
gatherings, necklace, Ebonized carved cherrywood, deerskin leather, oxidized sterling silver, pendants range from 3-6" 38" cord, 2022