Kristin Posehn

In conjunction with my ongoing exhibition Ghost Pearls at Granary Arts, UT, I’m releasing a series of fully digital studies that further expand ideas touched on within the show. This series explores ways in which economic structures, purpose, and community can be linked; and forms by which voice can be transmitted across time. The second in this series of three works is Gift Waves.

Digital Study #7 (Gift Waves), 2023

As Granary Arts Fellow, I researched histories of lace in Ephraim, UT. One afternoon, the local artist Julie Johnson invited me to lunch at her home, shared her lace-making practice, taught me basic stitches, and gifted me a piece she had made. During the residency, I was also researching archival material relating to the Ephraim Relief Society—a unique, women-owned and operated organization that played a key role in Ephraim’s history—and in particular, the ledgers the Relief Society kept from ~1856-1950 to record their significant charitable activities across the community. These interests were connected, as both lace and ledgers are formats for encoding value and time.

In this digital study, the physical lace Julie Johnson gifted to me is reimagined as a virtual column made of transparent, woven glass links. With the spirit of exchange, this work is gifted to her.

In conjunction with my ongoing exhibition Ghost Pearls at Granary Arts, UT, I’m releasing a series of fully digital studies that further expand ideas touched on within the show. The first in this series of three works is Streaming.

Digital Study #6 (Streaming), 2023

This study was inspired by research into the Ephraim Relief Society, a unique, women-owned and operated organization that played a foundational role in the local community of Ephraim, UT, from 1856 through the early 20th century.

Though little is known about their lives, a series of ledgers kept by the women of the Ephraim Relief Society record their receipt of donations, significant charitable contributions within the local community, attendance at meetings, and snippets of their voices as recorded in meeting minutes.

In this digital study, long chains made of mirror hang side-by-side in the gallery, reflecting back an otherwise unseen exterior world. The series touches on questions of how economic structures, purpose, and community might be linked; forms by which voice is transmitted across time; histories of weaving and early digital art, and more.

Today I minted my genesis nft on Objkt, check it out here. I’m approaching these as an ongoing experiment: I’ll probably mint a new piece once every other week for the next few months and see how it evolves.

My painting Most Mystic is included in Garden, a group exhibition at Ladies’ Room through January 31, 2023.

Most Mystic, acrylic and mica on canvas, 20 x 24 inches, 2020

Kristin Posehn’s paintings are inspired by the reflections of skyscrapers into skyscrapers, a phenomena we can observe in dense financial centers around the world. In her vision, the reflective patterns of these mega-structures become delicate, atmospheric, and haunting glyphs that never repeat. Her paintings change and play in a sly dance with light, evoking languages at once ancient and futuristic.