#kathoward

Kat Howard | Cautionary Tale | cotton knit, muslin, raw cotton, steel wire, thread, 24 x 4 feet

BOOK REVIEW! 

AN UNKINDNESS OF MAGICIANS BY KAT HOWARD

I shamelessly picked up this book for the cover...Come on, if you know me, i'm all about those aesthetic books. By the way, it has raised grooves. Who can say no to raised grooves?!

Luckily, this book was actually really, really good! I didn't go into this book with many expectation and I was super surprised by the plot of this story. I absolutely loved the concept of this book, set in the real world where a society of magicians who run their own households live amongst us. Every few decades, the houses will fight to determine who the leader of this society will be. Different houses will challenge other ones and when it get's closer to who the winner will be, it becomes a fight to the death. NOW the part that I loved the most about this is the magic itself. These magicians all draw from a power source but none of them really question where it has come from. Their parents and older generations has simply taught them how to draw this magic and not the mystery behind it. Let's just say, the magic isn't drawn from thin air, causing no pain to anyone.

The characters themselves were interesting. You had multiple perspectives from characters who would typically be called your 'good guy' and 'bad guy'. You had characters with flaws, realistic traits and many times reading this book, they felt human and not just someone written onto a page.

There was one thing that stopped this book being 5 stars for me but I can't tell you why without spoiling it!!! Let's just say, there's dark parts in this book that made me wince a little. The bad characters are like, murder someone bad, not just a mean person. Right from the beginning they're cruel and just, well, murderous. And it made me expect a little more towards the end.

Kat Howard | There is No Calm in Stillness, 2023 | raw cotton, cotton thread, nylons, polyester thread, meat hook, 15 x 10 x 5 in.

Kat Howard | The Body Keeps The Score, 2022 | velour, cotton, 24 x 2 feet

Kat Howard, American, @kat_howard

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“Crio um trabalho que aborda como o corpo feminino tem sido visto ao longo do tempo, com uma abordagem crua e direta na narrativa e com ênfase na textura. [...] Estou interessada nas relações das mulheres com seus corpos, e nos papéis que seus corpos desempenharam ao longo da história. O material e textura do objeto são parte integrante da minha prática, e sua conexão com o corpo. Evidências da mão e das marcas físicas do corpo estão sempre presentes no meu trabalho. [...] Tento capturar esse momento em que a sociedade se afasta do que está acontecendo, na tentativa de manter os olhos abertos. Usando a história como lente para examinar o corpo feminino, sou capaz de explorar a consciência carregada do meu próprio corpo e identidade."

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[ “I make work that addresses how the female body has been viewed over time, with a raw, direct approach to narrative and an emphasis on texture. [...] I'm interested in women's relationships to their bodies, and the roles that their bodies have played throughout history. The material and texture of the object is integral to my practice, and its connection to the body. Evidence of the hand and the physical marks of the body is always present in my work. […] I try to capture this moment that occurs where society turns away from what is happening, in an attempt to hold the eye open. By using history as a lens to examine the female body, I am able to explore the charged awareness of my own body and identity.”]

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Ref.:  http://www.kat-howard.com ; https://professionalweaversociety.org/podcast/episode-11/?utm_medium=&utm_source=&utm_campaign=listen+to+my+podcast+interview+with+the+professional+weaver+society @workingweaversociety ; https://www.theweavingloom.com/weaver-interview-kat-howard/ @theweavingloom ; https://wheretheycreate.com/Kat-Howard @wheretheycreate

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(em Kingston , New York)