Artist Spotlight: Molly Koehn

Molly Koehn (she/her/hers) is an artist and maker located in Houston, TX.

Melding a practice of repetitive actions through weaving, printing, and stitching, Molly’s work conjures glimpses into alternate and constructed realities. Her work is rooted in place and finds grounding through explorations of her present environments and research into their ecological pasts, presents, and futures. Her current research is largely focused in the Houston region and Houston Center for Contemporary Craft’s garden, learning about and making with local and cultivated plants. Molly received an MFA with an emphasis in fibers from Arizona State University (2017) and BFA in drawing from Fort Hays State University (2013). Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and is in several collections including the Houston Endowment’s permanent collection. In addition to keeping a studio practice, Molly also teaches workshops and classes regularly.

Artist Statement
Conjuring the cycles of time to peer into built and natural environments, research and personal exploration come together to craft place(s).

They are vague and undefined, dreamlike and not perfectly reflected.
They are (sometimes) only seen through haze and cracks.
They are the peculiar sensation of knowing something unknown.

Repetitive processes - weaving, printing, stitching - craft these alternate views, slowly building each thread by thread, layer by layer, and color by color. The rhythm creates a place for reflection and speculation, offering parallels between

rigidity                         /                                   flexibility

            natural                                   /                                   artificial

growth                        / destruction

                                    motion                                    /          stillness

                                    /

                                                                                    \         

/

Many of the materials used to create these works were either grown at Houston Center for Contemporary Craft or foraged/found in the Texas Gulf Coast region.