Kirsten Fredericks
"You crochet WHAT?!" - Joe Public
"Kirsten's art makes a subtle yet ballsy statement. It's just outrageous to think that you can cuddle up to a soft, 10-inch phallus. It instantly makes me smile and laugh out loud when I see them.” - Gary McEwan, artist
Sydney artist Kirsten Fredericks takes the phallic symbol and, armed with crochet hooks, wool, and her knowledge of a traditional “feminine” craft, turns it on its head. The result is a playful, culturally charged homage to the male reproductive organ.
A knitwear designer for 12 years, Kirsten has created one-off couture for Australian labels such as Cohen et Sabine, Vicious Threads and Beauty of Nature, and department store Myer. Challenged by a friend, she knitted a phallus-shaped scarf in 2007. The resulting design was extremely well received has become her signature piece. However, as she knitted, Kirsten was deep in thought about creating a phallus that spanned three dimensions. Swapping her knitting needles for a crochet hook, the series of “knots” yielded by crochet gave the artist a more texturally stimulating palette with which to work.
Kirsten's first solo show, Work the Ball, was in June 2008 at Blank Space Gallery, Sydney; a collection of over 30 soft sculptures. It featured, among other works, visual and linguistic gags such as a metre-long door trouser snake, and two crocheted members in the throes of a 'cock fight' in a cage.
She has since participated in the 2008-10 Blacktown Arts Festival and the Dirty X Show at the National Grid. Her second solo show, in March 2009, was titled Come Together, again at Blank Space Gallery.
Kirsten continues to hone her craft, mainly through consultations with knit and crochet “elders” in the Australian community. She is influenced by the works of international artists such as Patricia Waller (Germany), Ming Yi Sung (Chicago), Ken Kagami (Japan) and Jack Davis (Santa Cruz), all of whom explore or reference sex and humour in their artmaking.
A resident of Bondi, Sydney, Kirsten recently exhibited a collection of new phallic works based on the Garden of Eden - Adam & Eve - at Blank Space Gallery, using taxidermy, found objects and botanical themes in a playful homage to the bible's holiest power couple.
Currently, Kirsten is featured in a group show at Hazelhurst Regional Gallery & Arts Centre at Gymea, NSW - Hands On: Craft in Contemporary Art, an exhibition of works by contemporary artists who use handicrafts as tools of expression in their practice, until January 30, 2011.
She is also preparing for another group show, Erotica, at the James Makin Gallery, Collingwood, Victoria, which opens February 3, 2011.
Recent awards
2010
Blacktown City Art Exhibition: Highly Commended
2009
Melbourne Scarf Festival: Most Outrageous Scarf
Blacktown City Art Exhibition: Highly Commended
Current and upcoming shows
Here Comes the Bride
October 27 - November 10, 2011
Michael Reid Online Exhibition
Past exhibitions
Yering Station Sculpture Exhibition & Awards 2011
October 23 - December 4, 2011
Yering Station
38 Melba Hwy Yarra Glen 3775
Victoria
Art on Paper
Jul 8 - Aug 14, 2011
Hazelhurst Regional Gallery & Arts Centre
782 Kingsway, Gymea, Australia
Hands On
December 3 - January 29, 2011
Hazelhurst Regional Gallery & Arts Centre
782 Kingsway, Gymea, Australia
Hands On is an exhibition of works by contemporary artists using materials not often found in a gallery. Yachting ropes, yarn, grass and even human hair are employed to create works of surprising wit and cultural resonance.
Curated by Cash Brown
Erotica
February 3 – 26, 2011
James Makin Gallery
67 Cambridge St, Collingwood VIC 3066
Erotica brings together a diverse range of contemporary, antique, modern and tribal artworks that explore the ancient urge to express the erotic and sexual dimension of human experience through visual media. The exhibition also explores the liminal spaces between the genres of erotic, pornography, obscenity and the nude, exploring how these borders can shift with changing cultural perspectives.
Curated by Jessica Williams
Adam and Eve
October 2010
black_space gallery, Surry Hills
Sydney- and London-based artists Kirsten Fredericks and Sarah Howell explore the holiest of power couples in their first joint exhibition: Adam and Eve.
The artists invite viewers to sample the fruits in their Garden of Eden, with works that explore the masculine and feminine, the playfulness of sex, kitschy animalia and a uniquely perverse, tongue-in-cheek take on all of the above.
This biblical behemoth will feature new works by both artists, including a mural, plus sculptures and prints that are a visual hotbed of colour and pop imagery.
Come Together
March 2009
black_space gallery, Surry Hills
Crochet artist Kirsten Fredericks together with designer Matt Hines join forces for an exhibition of unconventional works made from wool and wallpaper.
Come Together is Kirsten and Matt's first collaboration together as artists and "wearable" is not its object. For Come Together Kirsten takes the traditional feminine craft of crochet to make confrontingly soft sculptures creating a textural and humorous world that enshrines the penis alongside its recreational uses. Matt's wallpaper celebrates the male member in all its shapes, sizes, colours and states of tumescence.
Work the Ball
June 2008
black_space gallery, Surry Hills
Work The Ball was Kirsten’s first solo exhibition, and "wearable" is not its object. For Work The Ball, Kirsten takes the traditional feminine craft of knitting and crochet to make phallic and confrontingly soft objects creating a textural and humorous world that enshrines the penis. Kirsten’s sculptures and installations celebrate the male member in all its shapes, sizes, colours and states of tumescence.
The phallus has long been a driving force in western and primitive art, but never has it been depicted as something to snuggle up to, something that literally gives you that warm and fuzzy feeling inside.
Lots of wonderful things coming soon.
Have your own personalised penis, hand made scarves for winter and other wearable accessories.
Get in contact with me
