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Katrina Santa Ana-Jose (b. 1990 San Francisco, California)

Katrina is a textile collector and artist. Since her youth, she has been engaged in remaking cherished garments as a means to extend their lifespan. This process of grief becoming material reconstruction has remained a cornerstone of her work. She utilizes skills drawn from diasporic craft traditions to stitch collective histories into adornments and sensory shelters that create points of connection to our original nature. As a form of care, she consciously opts for preloved and heritage natural fibers in her creations. Viewing her artistic endeavors as integral components of a circular system, her works can ultimately return to the earth, completing a cycle of reuse and regeneration.

Pulling back a curtain, or the act of revealing or uncovering, is subverted in The Room Breathes In, as Sanj’s wall hangings reveal their own intrinsic histories and folkloric iconography. While the work follows patchwork traditions such as Bojagi and quilting, it transcends craft through the use of sophisticated color combinations and recurring spiral imagery, resulting in compositions reminiscent of abstract painting with it’s own distinct visual language. Sanj’s conceptualization of the work extends to it’s material lineages as well, by hand-dying and sourcing antique fabric.

Utilizing the therapeutic qualities of natural fibers, the artist creates space for inward contemplation and refuge. In practice, a curtain can serve as a protective barrier, but it can also be a doorway or portal, spiritually and literally softening the environment. Making the work is just as healing for the artist, sending the same somatic signals as when walking on grass or sand.