Molly Kent

My practice sits within the field of fibre and installation art. Through the traditional medium of rug tufting, my work represents doubt in the digital age. I draw on contemporary existence regarding social media and living in an internet-driven environment, portraying this through the visual aesthetic of glitch art. Combining acidic/toxic colours, unsettling phrases and organic amoeba-like forms, the works overwhelm the senses and mirror the feeling of doubt. Taking the domestic form of the rug and shifting it in presentation, the objects I make begin to climb walls and morph before us resembling viral or bacterial forms. This plays on the idea that doubt can be perceived as a disease that, over time, shifts and morphs to continue its hold over us.

I also challenge the perception of traditional craft, transferring the historical production of rug making into a new contemporary relevance, to record contemporary existence in a visually progressive and engaging way. While my work is personal in nature, the phrases are somewhat ambiguous and, as a result, the viewer can attach their meaning to them. When creating, I take the traditional medium of rug tufting and combine it with an installation-based practice, linking objects within a set space to portray the feeling and sensation of doubt. When an individual enters the installation space the objects allow for a personal projection of emotion, rendering their own ‘doubts’ in a physical, tangible medium. I’ve created a series of paradoxes that make for an interesting, continuous reading of the work - the longer we look the more links between the phrases, textures, forms etc. can be made. Links that I as the artist have crafted, but links that will develop from the viewers’ personal experiences and emotions. There’s an intentionally constant battle for dominance between which aspects matter most.