I met Kate Madeira when I was about 15 and living in Franklin. Back then I fancied myself a photographer and Kate is glamorously tall with quirky fashion sense and could achieve body angles that would make America's Next Top Model contestants jealous, so we often hung out and did "photoshoots" in abandoned fields and parking garages. Kate's creative sensibilities always inspired a sense of awe even back then, but in years since I have kept up with her artistic work over the internet and have been planning to interview her for years so it only seemed fitting to begin with her for the first Ink+Honey Blog interview.

Kate is a 27 year old Nashville native and is a particularly skilled embroidery artist (among other things) and creates beautifully detailed stitches depicting scenes with photo-like precision, snarky quotes, and quirky patches. She attended Watkin's College of Art, Design, and Film until dropping out after her Sophomore year and has shown work since in several gallery shows.

We met up at Red Bicycle in Woodbine and caught up over lattes and doughnuts. After a healthy amount of reminiscing, I launched into this interview *ALMOST* like a real reporter.

Abigail: Kate! I am so excited this is actually happening, I feel like I've been talking about doing this for ages. I think I should probably just start with an obvious question: how did you first get into embroidery and stitching? Is that something you taught yourself or received formal education for?

Kate: It’s something that’s interested me for as long as I can remember. I remember there was this period when I was a little kid when my parents stopped buying me jewelry because anytime we would go to the store and I would see a necklace and asked if I could have it, the second we would get home I would break it because I wanted to use the beads for something. But yeah, I had a little kids cross stitch kit when I was 7 or 8 and we found a home movie of me opening that at Christmas and screaming with excitement. “OH MY GOD A DELUXE NEEDLEPOINT SET!” But then when I was 11, my grandma got me an actual adult cross stitch sampler and so I did those off and on through out middle and high school and taught myself other stitches and it was always good busy work. I don’t think it clicked with me because I was always reproproducing someone else’s designs which didn’t feel particularly artistic for me. But then once I was in college and made the connection that it was just basically drawing or painting with thread then I started doing that for a few college projects. Then when I dropped out I went through this really lame depressive period and I had moved into my dad’s apartment. And since there wasn’t much space, most of my stuff was in boxes and I was just really bummed out and found this box that had all my embroidery supplies in it. And I was just like, okay, I need a distraction from all of this and started making these patches. I posted some pictures to Tumblr and from there had a few friends reach out wanting to commission something from me. So I just started making those really regularly. Then I realized there were bigger things I wanted to do, and it ended up just really clicking and has been my go-to medium for the last 5 years now.

“...[I] made the connection that [embroidery] was just basically drawing or painting with thread.”

— Kate Madeira

A: That’s interesting that you said it shifted for you from being more of (if I’m understanding you right) being more of a craft based project when you were younger to being more of an artistic expression when you were older.

K: Yea!

Kate Madeira outside of Red Bicycle with a new piece from her series, "Postcards from Bummerville, USA"

A: I remember my Nana teaching me how to cross stitch and working on this ridiculous duck baby bib, and I was not very good at it. Like, I could do basic stitches, but I was never very proficient at it. And I remember seeing it more as a craft project, ya know? But, the thing I love about your work is that it does have a very artistic feel to a medium that has historically been viewed more as a craft or homemaking skill.

K: Ya, I remember once at a Christmas party years back at my dad’s place and him being like, “Oh yea! You need to see Kate’s embroidery! But don’t let it fool you, it’s not like what a grandma does!” and I was like, okay!

(Laughter)

A: Yea, I know that from my own experience doing art and bookmaking I received a lot of criticism in college for my work being more “craft” oriented and being asked all the time if I was a “craftsperson” or an artist, and I am just now entering a season where I say I am an artist, therefore I’m an artist.

K: But those are both two great things to be!

A: For sure! Why can’t that line be blurred a little bit? So, I just thought that was interesting. Have you ever felt limited by your lack of formal education with sewing?

K: Yea, I don’t know. I’ve always really liked figuring things out for myself so I haven’t really regretted having any formal training. The only bummer is I do a lot of hand work so I don’t really know how to embroider on a machine (which is a totally different look anyway) but when it comes to making patches for people, that would really come in handy. Like, the piece I’ve been making lately, I’ve had people be like, “Oh man! Are these for sale? Can you make one for me?” And I’m just like, no, I don’t really want to remake any of them by hand, and that would definitely be a time that using a machine would really come in handy. Plus, this current series I’m actually planning on mounting because they are so fancy, I don’t really want to see them on people’s clothes. I mean, I’ve had patches that I’ve made and stuck on my leather jackets and they get really ratty after a while and I just don’t really want to see these get that way.

"The Mechanics of Blowing a Kiss" / Kate Madeira / 2015

A: I totally get that. I know you do different varying sizes of patches, though they are all relatively small, about how long does it take you to complete one?

K: Well, last year I got on this really photo realistic kick and some of those took 190-250 hours to complete. But the current post-inaugural series I’ve been working on takes I would guess between 3 hours and up to 20 hours…I haven’t really been timing these.

A: That's SO LONG. I totally understand why you wouldn't want to recreate patches to sell; that just seems like it would take an eternity. I’ve seen a lot of your work and there are a few pieces that are stand alone, but would you say your style is more geared towards series and working with a common theme?

K: I think so, yea. It’s never really something I intend to do, but I get some kind of idea and then I just run with that and work around that theme. My only problem is that all the series I have worked on, none of them are really complete. I still want to finish my embroidered table cloth. And I started a series of three photo realistic photos my sister had taken that I would like to add to.

"Closer to God" / Knights of Suburbia Collection / Kate Madeira / 2015

A: Oh my god, I’ve seen those and they are NUTS. They are so realistic, it’s hard to believe they aren’t literal photos.

K: Yea, thanks! Yea, I would love to do more of those. Part of why I stopped is because the photos are from so long ago with local bands that are cool, but I don’t really listen to as much now. I go to a lot of shows within Nashville’s DIY scene, so I would love to be doing portraits of my friends playing music now. And then I have a whole series that I started from Dragon Park; I just have so many ideas and not enough time to complete them all.

A: Well, and if it takes you 250+ hours for each one, it’s not like you can just whip them out and move on, so I totally get that. I know the recent patches you have been posting online have a political undertone, and you did a past series on notes you found from childhood, would you say that you are influenced more by what’s going on in current events right now?

K: Gosh, yea, I would say my work has been influenced by current events. I would say most of my work is more feelings based. So I think it’s coming out of all the excess emotion I am feeling in the wake of what is going on in the world right now and needing to blow off steam. So these patches end up being my own sort of excorsim, but also I know there are people out there that are feeling the same thing so I really want these to be little notes of hope and stuff.

(Currently Untitled) / Postcards from Bummerville, USA Series / Kate Madeira / 2017

A: I find it interesting that you’re dealing with these weightier topics through sequins and embroidery and a typically very feminine medium; is that purposeful for you to use such a feminine medium to kind of jab at some very masculine themes?

K: Um, I wouldn’t say that was necessarily my intent, but it has crossed my mind. I do appreciate the irony. Ya know we’re in this misogynistic administration so I do like the irony of expressing my feelings with what’s considered a very feminine medium.

A: I think that's really cool; how did you get started on this current series?

K: Gosh, the stuff I’m working on now happened totally out of the blue. I finished designing and embroidering an album cover for a friend of mine and I finished it and it was midnight but I wasn’t tired and wanted something else to work on. I was very antsy and it was a couple weeks after the inauguration so feelings were kind of raw. Like, one thing I’ve been really wanting to learn how to do is embroider wrathfully, because embroidery is so slow and requires all this concentration. It’s very calming and therapeudic and so if I'm a little anxious it helps to do that and when I’m working on really personal pieces it can be really cathartic to work through that with something that can take such an insane amount of time trying to depict some part of my life that wasn’t maybe that great. But, sometimes, I just want to really be with my anger and let it out all at once, and it’s a hard medium to do that in because you can’t really be quite so impulsive. So I decided to grab a piece of fabric and stitch whatever came to mind and it wound up being this whole election based piece and I kind of kept going with that and making whatever came to mind. So I’ve been doing that, and I’ve got a piece I’m working on right now that I’m hoping to finish tonight! Because I’ve been doing this every day for the last month (laughter), so I think after I finish this current piece I might take a couple days break to draw some comic stuff.

“...One thing I’ve been really wanting to learn how to do is embroider wrathfully, because embroidery is so slow and requires all this concentration. It’s very calming and therapeutic...

But, sometimes, I just want to really be with my anger and let it out all at once, and it’s a hard medium to do that in because you can’t really be quite so impulsive.”

— Kate Madeira

A: I think it sounds like a very well deserved break! Do you have any plans to sell your stuff in the future or is it mostly for personal collection?

K: When I started making more large scale pieces, I started thinking I wanted to build up a collection so I can actually start showing my work, but if you do that they have to be up for sale. So, I end up making work to make it, and then wrap it up and put it in storage until it’s time for a show because I don’t want to get too attached. (Laughter) Plus, it makes it that much more fun when I have to set up and I can just pull everything out like, “Oh man! I remember these!”

A: Totally, like memory lane!

K: Yea, definitely. So, everything I do I make in the mindset that it’s going to eventually be for sale. Right now I have a few shows coming up this year.

A: Do you have any artists that have really influenced your style specifically?

K: Well, Jenny Hart, she was the first embroidery artist I heard of that was doing it in a more contemporary style in that it was just really pop cultural. Like, she would use all these traditional embroidery elements and then use them to create band posters or portraits of old country singers or rock stars and stuff. So, I got really into her stuff when I was 18 or 19. But then there’s also, Tilleke Schwarz, who does really cool stream of consciousness pieces that are just really colorful with all different types of images, stitches, and text all worked in. And then, my other influences are from a whole other mish-mash of stuff. I love comics, like Junji Ito, he does like this really cool Japanese Horror-Manga and I like that kind of work. His stuff is really grotesque, but it’s beautifully done. He and Edward Gorey have been really big influences, and Raymond Pettibon who is an illustrator. Like, he did a lot of artwork for bands in the 80’s and 90’s like Sonic Youth. And a lot is just simple black and white drawings with some cryptic text in there.

A: Yea, everyone you’ve listed, I can understand how they have been influencial in what I see you produce. When you work on your pieces, is it something you do in a specific space in your house? Or is it something you can take on the go with you?

K: Ideally, I would love to have a dedicated space with a table to work at, but typically I am just curled up in my bed working. I am currently looking for a new place, so I’m crashing on my dad’s couch at the moment and he lives in a one bedroom apartment so I just have been working from the couch there, and if I need a change of space, I will typically take my work down to Bongo Java. Luckily, since the pieces I have been working on lately are very small, I can tuck them between the pages of my day planner and throw a few skeins of thread into my bag and take them to wherever I'm headed. I nanny, and the parent’s of the kid I nanny are super encouraging like, “Oh yea! If you want to work on art, just bring it with you!” Yea, luckily, it’s very portable.

A: That's so fortunate! I love having an actual physical journal that I am writing in again just because it's so portable. This has been such a fantastic time, sipping coffee and chatting. I really appreciate you meeting me and telling me about your process!

K: Yea, same! I can’t wait to see it when it’s written!

Kate's Upcoming Shows:

April 22, 2017: Show opening with Mark Francis and Hannah Maxwells at Toyzini's Gallery
July 2017: Show for MOMO Art Collectives Inaugural Show (details still to come)

You can find Kate on the internet here:

Instagram: instagram.com/katemadeira
Website: cargocollective.com/sweaterbones
Etsy: etsy.com/shop/sweaterbones

Keep your eyes peeled over the next month or so! I have a very special journal to give away from my new 'Bound Up' collection that is coming out this Spring.

XOXO,

Abigail