Monthly Maker: Kevin B. Huang

Monthly Maker: Kevin B. Huang

Website: KevinBHuang.com
Instagram: @kevinbhuang2702

TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF
I have been making and selling artwork since I was ten years old.  My youthful aspiration was to be an architect, and I took the steps towards that by graduating with a Baccalaureate in Architecture from Pratt Institute. A subsequent life-threatening meningeal infection allowed me to assess and reassess my priorities through the making of art.

WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY WORKING ON?
The Fleisher Art Memorial Wind Challenge opening on April 3, 2020. This will be an installation of “Story Balls” made from found and reclaimed items mainly from the streets of Philadelphia.  Clothing that once belonged to my father was assembled using a quilt pattern that I modified from the traditional cathedral window pattern to form a sphere. Forks, knives and spoons, gloves, umbrellas, hair weaves and wigs, baby pacifiers, and bottle nipples will all be crafted into spherical forms.  My hope is that these objects will encourage participants to engage in talking among themselves thus bringing their own stories to work.

WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS?
Action. I hope that people who see my work will be inspired to engage with one another in discussions about provocative issues that may emerge from my use of materials and descriptions of individual pieces. By seeing the sheer quantity of waste that I, individually, have collected in a short time, folks, ideally, will be able to visualize the magnitude and social impact of our collective detritus. The emotions I felt when I realized that trash bags full of the clothes of a family: Mother, Son, and Daughter, were carelessly left on the edge of a road will always be with me. Action from seeing the impact and effects of poverty, sexual health, and general well-being may be brought to bear as people from differing cultures and backgrounds start to talk with one another and find common ground for solutions.