Waterway

Artist: Kyla Sjogren
Based in: Wheeler, Oregon
Medium: Wool, Indigo dye and Phyllospadix scouleri (Scouler's surfgrass), 36” x 36”
Date: 2023
Location at the Stephanie: 1st floor, hallway past front desk

Artist Statement

Coastal dwellers and visitors are attracted to the massive, blue Pacific Ocean. The vast indigo water dominates our coastal perspective. The waterway leads the eyes from the bottom to the center drop shape.  The seagrass woven on the sides aids this continual focus to the center and upwards to the source of all life–water. 

I am an artist using natural fibers and pigments to make textile compositions. I have a desire to radically understand the materials I deem healthy for land, animals and people. The gratification from this highly considered process incorporates aspects that have given me moments of pause to honor seasons, community and the human experience in this world. The resulting artwork imbues its origins and tells a story beyond immediate visual cues.  

About the Artist

Growing up in rural Florida, Kyla dreamt of the day when she could gaze at the unique coastal tide pools of the Pacific Northwest. More than a decade ago, that dream came true when she moved to Portland to attend a distinguished MFA program through the former Oregon College of Art and Craft. Kyla divides her time between a career in corporate apparel and a slower-paced life on the North Coast, where she weaves textiles at an even slower pace. She resides in Wheeler, Oregon, where Roosevelt elk occasionally appear on Lazarus Island. You can see more of Kyla’s work and process here.