About Me.

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Bio
Kyla Crawford is an artist and educator, she earned her BFA in painting and fibers and a BS in Art Education in Metro Detroit. After moving to Houston, TX she continued her arts education by completing her Master of Fine Arts and joining local guilds. Where she started to explore ritual, heritage, and exploring the in-between space of the physical and psychological in her art works through the process of drawing, spinning, and weaving. She also started an indie yarn dying business, Kyla’s Lab: Textile Arts and Accessories, and teaching at the postsecondary level. She has had art works show multiple times at The Houston Center for Contemporary Crafts and works collected by Lester Marks. She designed an adjustable loom that her dad manufactures and works as a weaving consultant, designer, and educator for Sketchlooms.com. She has taught fiber classes and workshops with the Contemporary Handweavers of Houston, HGA’s Convergence, the Medow’s Museum and the Dallas Handweavers and Spinners Guild. Presently, she expresses her need to spread the love of art to others by teaching at University of North Texas, Dallas College, and Collin College, in the Dallas area. She is also shows her art in various exhibitions around the DFW metroplex and nationally.


Artist Statement
I create artworks that deal with ritual, heritage, and the in-between spaces of the physical and psychological. I do this in a variety of series, but they all have a connecting thread of soft materials. 
In my Dream Yarn series I use ink and paper to draw invisible creatures that help our world. These drawings and papers are filled with hopes and dreams. Then invoking the fates I spin this paper into yarn, to actualize the hopes and dreams into reality. The yarn holds infinite possibilities, when it is balled up it holds energy. The balled yarn has the potential to be anything that is ready for us to explore. When the yarn is woven its potential has been fulfilled. With the process of spinning and weaving I am connecting with my heritage and the labor of my foremothers. I am finding ritual and connection through this process while I spin loved ones hopes and dreams into potential.
In my Anxiety Weavings series, threads intertwine and bind domestic materials. The quiet meditation of weaving allows me to transfer my emotional tension and anxiety into the threads. Organizing yarn as I organize my thoughts and sooth my mental health. The titles capture the negative thoughts that ruminate in my mind when anxious and depressed. The weavings are combined with domestic materials. Exploring home as self, and a contemplative and dynamic space and shining a light on the neglected labor of “women’s work”. 
In my Weaving Worlds series, the language, tools and forms of textile production aid in the magic and ritual of my world building. The world that is being built is of the inbetween, and explores that small overlooked natural wonders of the world. It is the inbetween of the physical and psychological worlds, the moments of imagination and misinterpretation of our physical world. I use repetitive processes, soft materials, and the forms of yarn to create this world. The friends in the inbetween are created with inks, paints,paper, fabrics, threads and yarn. The sculptural forms show the potential and magic that is stored in the forms of textile production, such as a cone of yarn and fabric on a loom. 
In my Personality Totems series, in my hands' personas are spawned from paint, paper, nostalgic craft supplies, and cosmetics. These personalities are unfamiliar to me- but I want to understand them. I conjure up fantastical creatures that plead with viewers to come closer, to examine their beauty, as well as their repulsion. They reflect human personas by honoring facets of our personalities while aggressively displaying absurdity to provoke our empathy. Alluring color, textures and rich materials work together to showcase each creature’s persona while drawing on the viewer’s curiosity to engage with the work.