KIMBERLY WINKLE

Kimberly Winkle is a maker whose work, both furniture and objects, celebrates traditional furniture making and woodturning techniques combined with a strong use of color and pattern. Her work has been included in exhibitions at SOFA Chicago, WANTEDDesign NYC, Architectural Digest Show NYC, the Museum of Art in Wood, and the Fuller Craft Museum. Winkle earned her MFA from San Diego State University and is currently a Professor of Art and Director of the School of Art, Craft & Design at TN Tech University.

Winkle has taught workshops at Penland, Haystack, Anderson Ranch, Arrowmont, Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, John C. Campbell, Port Townsend School of Woodworking, Pocosin Art Center, and the Appalachian Center for Craft. Her work has also been included in several publications, including Fine Woodworking, Woodworker West, and American Woodturner magazines and the books 500 Tables, 500 Chairs, among others. Winkle has been awarded several artist residencies, including the International Turning Exchange at the Museum of Art in Wood in Philadelphia, the Windgate Artist Residency at State University New York (SUNY) Purchase, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Wingate Craft Fellow at the Vermont Studio Center and at the Appalachian Center for Craft. She was awarded a State of Tennessee Individual Artist Award in 2011 and the Society of Arts and Crafts (Boston) John D. Mineck furniture fellowship in 2014.

"Employing traditional materials, furniture making, and turning techniques, I build forms and structures with results that are, often times, untraditional. My interest lies in the pursuit and potential of wood as an expressive element versus function being my only concern. I use hardwood, paint, and graphite to create my works. The forms are generally streamlined in order to better play the role of an empty canvas for color and line. I activate the wood by painting and drawing onto its surface. This painting is not an act of irreverence for the material; instead I am interested in realizing its potential as something other than its naked self. My color palette is rich yet flat. I animate the painted surface with drawn marks consisting of varied arrangements of lines and dots; the combination of these marks result in an exciting, and somewhat quirky, dialogue of characters. These inscriptions serve as pattern, embellishment, and residual evidence of my hand. I strive to create an apparent sense of spontaneity, nuance, chaos yet order, rhythm and gesture with these marks; all working in concert to imbue the object with individuality and charm. I am seeking to find a balance of proportion, form and surface enhancement as I transform a common format into something that is very uncommon. My goal, ultimately, is to create an object that is sophisticated yet approachable, has intention but is not overly serious, displays equilibrium between function and design and, in the end, brings pleasure and something new to the user."