Fiber Artist Spins a Good Yarn

By Brian Sandford | The New Mexican | January 17, 2024

If Oklahoma City-based fiber artist Kendall Ross misspells a word while working, the solution isn’t as simple as smashing the “backspace” button.

Ross knits messages into the oversized clothing she creates, some of which measure 5 feet across. The messages are presented as random thoughts — some addressed to herself, some to friends, some to strangers.

“I do have moments when I get to the end of what I’m making, and I wish I had done something differently,” says Ross, 25. “I made a typo in something I was making a couple of days ago, and I had to unravel, like, 20 rows because I put an extra ‘R’ and an ‘E’ in a word. So that was humbling.”

Ross’s creations will adorn Kouri + Corrao Gallery for much of this year as part of I’d Knit That, a name Ross also uses as an artist. They’re available to view by appointment now, and a solo exhibition of different pieces begins in September. They take up plenty of space; Red Rover, a series of four handknit wool sweaters Ross created last year, is a whopping 21 by 144 inches, or nearly 2 feet by 12 feet.

The shirts feature images as seemingly random as the thoughts they accompany: an apple slicer, lettuce, sunglasses, a kitchen knife, an ice pop, dominoes, an iPod, what appears to be a toilet plunger. The messages include: “I don’t like any part of myself that’s not producing,” “I don’t want to be anywhere if I’m not doing some convincing,” “How can so many things be true all at once?,” “My hands are tied — I can’t point fingers,” and “I don’t know how to be interested in what doesn’t bring out the worst in me.”

Words and objects are arranged in collage form, and each garment feels like a glimpse into Ross’s subconscious, or one of her dreams.

“I grew up in an environment where we would get together and make things, and when we weren’t making things, we were talking about what we were going to make and showing what we had made previously,” she says. “So [creating has] always been a part of my life, and has always been tied to my relationship with the women in my family who I loved and admired and looked up to.”

While knitting dates back countless generations in Ross’s family, she’s a pioneer when it comes to using the medium to spread messages.

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