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Artist Statement

Artist Statement

Chicanx, Punjabi, Hawaiian: weaving is about strange combinations. Teal penetrates magenta. Gold interrupts. Handspun wool twists with glitter, only to get trapped in cotton. As my mother likes to say when she sees a surprising multiracial body: “who invaded that guy?” Materials erase, seduce, replace, choke as they wind their way through a warp, under weft, are put under tension or are set free of it. 3/8 Indian. 1/8 black and white. Authenticity diluted by eighths!

 

What are you? I am a weaver of ends, of each generational end. I am a promiscuity of culture in rayon and knit caught in the warp of a backstrap loom, picking out the pattern in a Mapuche poncho. But are these my stories to tell?


I am Hollywood Hawaiian. My work is a tribute to my grandmother Lawhaii (Kikume) Johal. That’s Hawaii with an L. She grew up believing her family was native Hawaiian.Her uncle was 

Kira Dominguez Hultgren at the Loom

Chief Mehevi, Chief Rakos, the authenticating bodily presence of the savage and of the exotic in the jungle movies of the 1920s-50s.

 

What are you? Check the box. Are you human? Type the code. The “Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart” (CAPTCHA) is the puzzle that compels me to choose as I navigate the web. Prove you’re not a robot. But there are too many seams, too many constructed cultural affiliations sutured together.

 

This is the performance of the unassimilated without homeland: please check one box only. Mark yourself as Other.

Bio

Bio

Kira Dominguez Hultgren (b. 1980) is a U.S.-based artist, weaver, and educator. She studied postcolonial theory and literature at Princeton University, and studio arts and visual and critical studies at California College of the Arts. Their research interests include material and embodied rhetorics, re-storying material culture, and weaving as a performative critique of the visual. Dominguez Hultgren weaves with the material afterlife of a so-called multiracial family: Chicanx-Indigenous-Indian-Hollywood Hawaiian-Brown-Black. Instead of being passed down, weaving and textile processes are brought up, resurrected from family stories and fabrics. Dominguez Hultgren builds looms to weave into the frayed edges of lost language, culture, traditions, and lives that were deliberately cut-off in past generations. Her looms – whether digital jacquard, backstrap, floor, post – materialize this present absence often as largescale checkboxes and X-marks. Questions about cultural appropriation and codeswitching, exoticism, and performing cultural misrecognitions occupy their practice.

 

Dominguez Hultgren has exhibited her work broadly including shows at the de Young Museum, Lehmann Maupin Gallery, the San Jose Museum of Quilt and Textile, and Eleanor Harwood Gallery. Their work has received critical attention including reviews in the New York Times and Architectural Digest. Dominguez Hultgren is an assistant professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Affiliations

Affiliations

CV

Kira Dominguez Hultgren

b. 1980, Oakland, California

Represented by Eleanor Harwood Gallery, San Francisco, CA

Education

2019      MFA Fine Arts and MA Visual and Critical Studies, California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA

2012      Mapuche Textile Arts Apprenticeship, Ruca Mallín, Río Negro Province, Argentina

2003      BA, Comparative Literature, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ

Selected Solo and Group Exhibitions

2024      (anticipated) Three-person exhibition, curated by Marianne K. McGrath, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA

2023      (anticipated) Solo exhibition, curated by Sid Sachs, Philadelphia Art Alliance, The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA

2022      Eyes of the Skin, curated by Teresita Fernández, Lehmann Maupin Gallery, NYC

2022      Future Shock: (Re)Visions of Tomorrow, co-curated by Caroline Brooks and Aaron Wilder, Roswell Museum, Roswell, NM

2022      Kira Dominguez Hultgren: Luz Jiménez (Solo Exhibition), Heroes Gallery, NYC

2022      Line by Line, curated by Janice Lessman-Moss, Kent State University, OH

2022      (traveling) A Beautiful Mess: Weavers and Knotters of the Vanguard, Huntsville Museum of Art, Huntsville, AL

2022      Water is Thicker Than Blood, curated by Rachel Poonsiriwong, Root Division, San Francisco, CA

2021      Two-person presentation for Eleanor Harwood Gallery, UNTITLED, Miami, FL

2021      (traveling) A Beautiful Mess: Weavers and Knotters of the Vanguard, The Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, FL

2021      Becoming, curated by Erica Deeman, Saint Joseph's Arts Foundation, San Francisco, CA

2021      Made Room (Solo Presentation for Eleanor Harwood Gallery), NADA House, Governors Island, New York City, NY

2021      A Beautiful Mess: Weavers and Knotters of the Vanguard, Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA

2020      Believe Only the Caravan’s Trace, curated by Yomna Osman, Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA

2020      The de Young Open, de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA

2020      Invincible Summer, Minnesota Street Project, San Francisco, CA

2020      I was India: Embroidering Exoticism (Solo Exhibition), San Jose Museum of Quilt and Textile, San Jose, CA

2020      Cosmic Fluff (Solo Exhibition/Facebook Booth Installation), UNTITLED, ART, San Francisco, CA

2020      Intrusions (Solo Exhibition), Eleanor Harwood Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2019      Fiberful, curated by Cynthia Ona Innis, NIAD Art Center, Richmond, CA

2019      Stitching and Weaving in the Digital Age, curated by Christine Duval, Currents 826, Santa Fe, NM

2019      My Mother’s Maiden Name, curated by Tanya Gayer, Root Division, San Francisco, CA

2019      Trap, Trauma, Transformation, curated by Rohan DaCosta, Greenlining Institute, Oakland, CA

2019      O! ‘darkly, deeply, beautifully blue…’, Eleanor Harwood Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2019      Bridge (Solo Exhibition), Gensler, San Francisco, CA

2018      Stitching and Weaving in the Digital Age, Résidence de France, San Francisco, CA

2018      All College Honors Award Exhibition, Hubbell Street Galleries, San Francisco, CA

2018      Wingspan (Solo Exhibition), Eleanor Harwood Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2018      MFA Exhibition I, Minnesota Street Project, San Francisco, CA

2018      This Message Has No Content, Embark Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2018      Caught in the Fray, College Avenue Galleries, Oakland, CA

2017      The Annual Murphy and Cadogan Awards Exhibition, SOMArts, San Francisco, CA

2017      TEXT TALES: Narrativity in Cloth & Thread, College Avenue Galleries, Oakland, CA

2016      The Immediate Archive, College Avenue Galleries, Oakland, CA

2015      Roots of the Maypole (Solo Exhibition), Codornices Park, Berkeley, CA, USA            

2013      Iconography of Loss, 24-hour outdoor installation (Solo Exhibition), Victoria, MN, USA

2012      Duendes y Hadas de Fieltro, Antu Werken, Paraje Entre Ríos, RN, Argentina

2011      La Teoria del Color, Escuela Micael, Paraje Entre Ríos, RN, Argentina

2011      Lado Derecho, Centro Cultural, El Bolsón, RN, Argentina

Residencies/Fellowships

2021      AICAD Post-Graduate Teaching Fellowship (declined), Parsons School of Design, New York City, NY

2021      AICAD Post-Graduate Teaching Fellowship (declined), Art Center, Pasadena, CA

2020      Facebook AIR, San Francisco, CA

2019 -    Graduate Fellowship, Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA

  2020     

2019      Lia Cook Jacquard Weaving Residency, California College of the Arts, Oakland, CA

2019      Gensler AIR, San Francisco, CA

Honors and Awards

2021      SECA Award Nomination, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA

2020      Hopper Prize, Spring 2020, The Hopper Prize, Dover, DE

2020      Brandford/Elliott Award Nomination for Excellence in Fiber Arts, Textile Society of America, Baltimore, MD

2019      MFA Professional Development Fellowship Honorable Mention, College Art Association, New York, NY

2019      SECA Award Nomination, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA

2018      All College Honors Scholarship in Graduate Fine Arts Award, California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA

2018      Commencement Exhibition Curator Award, California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA

2018      Dennis Leon and Christin Nelson Scholarship, California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA

2017      Edwin Anthony and Adalaine Boudreaux Cadogan Scholarship, San Francisco, CA

2017      Toni A. Lowenthal Memorial Scholarship for Excellence in Textiles, California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA

2016      Lenore Tawney Fiber and Material Studies Scholarship (declined), School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL

Collections

2020      Fidelity Corporate Art Collection, Boston, MA

2020      Facebook Headquarters, Menlo Park, CA

2019      Google Nest Corporate Collection, Palo Alto, CA

2018      UCSF Precision Cancer Medicine Building, San Francisco, CA

Media Coverage

2022      Heinrich, Will. “What to See in NYC Galleries Right Now,” (review). New York Times. April 15, 2022.

              https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/06/arts/art-we-saw-this-spring.html

2021      Roseo, Maria Rosaria. “Interview with Kira Dominguez Hultgren,” ArteMorbida Textile Arts.

              https://www.artemorbida.com/interview-with-kira-dominguez-hultgren/?lang=en  

2021      Smith, Roberta. “On Governors Island, Art Interventions Are Everywhere,” (review). New York Times. May 6, 2021.

              https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/06/arts/design/nada-house-2021-governors-island.html

2020      Shah, Shilpa. “I was India: Embroidering Exoticism,” (review). Textile Society of America News, September 29, 2020.

              https://textilesocietyofamerica.org/10308/i-was-india-embroidering-exoticism

2020      Rus, Mayer. “Step Inside a Family’s Sophisticated Santa Cruz Getaway,” (review). Architectural Digest, July/August

              2020. https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/step-inside-a-familys-sophisticated-santa-cruz-getaway

2020      Bravo, Tony. “Minnesota Street Project Opens First Group Gallery Show in Atrium, Launches Virtual Portal,” (review). 

              San Francisco Chronicle. July 8, 2020. 

              https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/art-exhibits/minnesota-street-project-opens-first-group-gallery-show-in-atrium-launches-virtual-portal

2020      Huguenor, Mike. “I was India at San Jose Museum of Quilt and Textile,” March 4, 2020.

              http://activate.metroactive.com/2020/03/i-was-india-at-san-jose-musuem-of-quilts-textiles/

2020      Donoghue, Katy. “Tina Vaz on Facebook’s Artist-in-Residence Program,” (shout-out). Whitewall. January 15, 2020.

              https://www.whitewall.art/art/tina-vaz-facebooks-artist-residence-program

2020      Hotchkiss, Sarah. “Six Bay Area Art Shows to See in 2020,” (review). KQED. January 2020.           

              https://www.kqed.org/arts/13872314/five-bay-area-art-shows-to-see-in-2020

2020      UNTITLED, ART, Conversations, “Strange Combinations: Analog meets Virtual,” moderated by James Voorhies, January

              2020. Podcast.

2019      CAA News Today, “Meet the 2018 Professional Development Fellows,” January 2019.

              http://www.collegeart.org/news/2019/01/28/meet-the-2018-professional-development-fellows/

2018      Lutz, Leora. “Coded, Recent Weavings by Kira Dominguez Hultgren.” Essay published in conjunction with Wingspan

              Exhibition, Eleanor Harwood Gallery, June 2018.

              http://eleanorharwood.com/press/leora-lutz-essay-coded-recent-weavings-by-kira-dominguez-hultgren/

2018      Cheng, Dewitt. “Kira Dominguez Hultgren,” (review). Visual Art Source. June 2018.

              http://www.visualartsource.com/index.php?page=editorial&aID=4728

2017      Kost, Ryan. “Identity and History on Display at SOMArts Show,” (review). SF Gate. September 20, 2017.

              https://www.sfgate.com/art/article/Identity-and-history-on-display-at-SOMArts-show-12215258.php

2017      Venkat, Uji. “2017 Murphy Cadogan Contemporary Art Awards Exhibition,” (review). Emergent Art Space. November

              10, 2017. https://emergentartspace.org/forum/49991/

Teaching

2022-     University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Craftism. Assistant Professor, Urbana, IL

  ongoing

2020 -    School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Intro to Fiber and Material Studies; Collective Weaving; Tapestry. Lecturer. Chicago, IL

  2022

2017 -    California College of the Arts. Jacquard Weaving: Zeros and Ones; Contemporary Art History and Theory (Graduate Survey), TA, 

  2019    Oakland, CA

 

Visiting Artist Lectures 

2022      Rhode Island School of Design, “Re-storying Material Practice,” Providence, RI

2022      Kent State University, “Am I Doing This Right?” School of Art, Kent, OH

2021      Handweavers Guild of America, Textiles and Tea, https://weavespindye.org/textiles-and-tea/

2021      New Art Dealers Alliance, “Make Room,” https://www.newartdealers.org/programs/artist-talk-with-kira-dominguez-hultgren

2021      Textile Talks, “Restorying Textiles,” https://www.sjquiltmuseum.org/textile-talks

2020      de Young Museum, "The Art of Textiles," panel discussion hosted by curator Jill D'Alessandro San Francisco, CA

2020      San Jose Museum of Quilt and Textile, “Flower-Shaped Storytelling,” San Jose, CA

2020      Living Room Light Exchange, “Cosmic Fluff: Materializing Countable Identity,” San Francisco, CA  

2020      Sonoma State University, “I was India: Materializing Imagined Identities in Contemporary Fiber Art,” Visiting Artist

              Lecture Series, Sonoma, CA

2019      California College of the Arts, “Textiles as Appropriative Practice,” Fine Art Lecture Series, Oakland, CA

2019      California College of the Arts, “Beyond Women’s Work: Embodied and Material Rhetoric,” Craft Theory I, San

              Francisco, CA

Conference Papers and Panels

2022      “Collective Weaving.” Paper and panel speaker, Creative Place-making Summit, Schenectady, NY

2021      “Slipping Through the Cracks: Rereading Tapestry Weaving as Subversive Material Rhetoric in Late-Nineteenth-

              Century Navajo-Woven U.S. Flags.” Paper presented at CAA Annual Conference.

2019      “Here, and No Further: Material Rhetoric in Loom with Textile.” Paper presented at Timepieces, the Centre for

              Comparative Literatures 29th Annual Conference, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

2019      My Mother’s Maiden Name, curated by Tanya Gayer. Panel speaker, Root Division, San Francisco, CA

2019      Making (it) Work curated by Karla Wozniak and Georgia Elrod. Panel speaker, Oliver Art Center, Oakland, CA

2017      “Hawaii with an L: How Black and White Became Hawaiian in John Ford’s The Hurricane.” Paper presented at the

              Identities, Difference, and Power Symposium, California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA

2017      Artists/Students of Color Experience in Higher Arts Education. Panel speaker, Murphy & Cadogan Equity in Arts

              Education Summit, SOMArts, San Francisco, CA

CV
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