Arts Directory

About

Artist Bio

Kristy Bishop (b. 1986) is a Charleston, SC-based artist focusing on weaving and natural dyeing and for the past three years delving deep into inkle and tablet weaving. Kristy attended the College of Charleston and graduated with a Bachelors in Studio Art in 2008.

Since 2020, she has been a Certified Teaching Artist through the South Carolina Arts Commission, dedicating her time to teaching fiber techniques to students in schools and adult workshops. Before this distinguishment, Kristy has been teaching fine craft techniques throughout SC and continues to do so. She partners with Engaging Creative Minds, the Newberry Arts Center, McClellanville Arts Council, Charleston Museum, Gibbes Museum and the Greenville County Museum of Art to facilitate textile workshops.

Her weavings, indigo dyed textiles and handmade jewelry have been exhibited and sold in the Renwick Gallery Store at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in conjunction with the exhibit Subversive, Skilled, Sublime: Fiber Art by Women. During the summer of 2024 her work will be on view at the Lyndon House Center for Art in Athens, GA. Kristy will have a solo show at the Park Circle Gallery in North Charleston, SC in October of 2024. During the summer of 2019, Kristy was the artist-in-residence at the Gibbes Museum of Art. She was awarded the South Carolina Artists’ Ventures Initiative Grant in 2016, which allowed her to expand her studio and teaching practice. In 2015, Kristy participated in a three-month residency at the 701 Center for Contemporary Art, culminating in a solo exhibition titled “Bound.” Her teaching artist career began when she was awarded the 2012-13 North Charleston Artist in Residency.

Artist Statement

Drawing inspiration from the rich history of tablet weaving and dyeing, my work is an engagement with ancient practice and traditional techniques that were once commonly used to adorn clothing. By delving into the historical roots of weaving, I honor the craft’s heritage while infusing it with contemporary vision and freedom. I meticulously weave series of bands with unique patterns and colors using inkle, rigid heddle and tablet weaving and then interweave those bands into ever growing compositions. The interwoven masses grow and evolve, split and stretch. Guided by the color and pattern relationships within each band, new pathways materialize, creating a visual tapestry that tells its own story.