The Queue

Next In The Queue Q and A with the craft community

Meet craft's movers and shakers and stay up on trends

A biweekly roundup for and by the craft community, The Queue introduces you to the artists, curators, organizers, and more featured in the current issue of American Craft. We invite these inspiring individuals to share personally about their lives and work as well as what's inspiring them right now.

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Sarah Zapata in her studio in Red Hook, Brooklyn, 2023. Photo by Minnie Bennett.

The Queue: Sarah Zapata

Sarah Zapata weaves the many strands of her identity into colorful, cascading, textile installations. In The Queue, the Brooklyn-based fiber artist shares about a piece of textile art she first encountered as a teenager, the potential of fabric waste, and the joys of researching a site-specific installation in Kansas City.

Misha Kahn. Photo by Joshua White, courtesy of Friedman Benda and Misha Kahn.

The Queue: Misha Kahn

Misha Kahn’s unrepentantly maximalist works use a dizzying array of materials and techniques to steamroll over the borders between craft, design, and sculpture. In The Queue, the Brooklyn-based designer and artist shares about the iconic craft artists whose works populate his home, the challenges of working with wood, and the alchemical magic of electroforming.

Sophie Glenn with her tool cabinet, Anni Albers in the Black Lodge, 2019, various hardwoods, brass hardware, 36 x 24 x 14 in. Photo courtesy of the artist.

The Queue: Sophie Glenn

Sophie Glenn’s clever furniture isn’t what it appears to be. In The Queue, the Reading, Pennsylvania–based woodworker, metalworker, and furniture designer shares about her process, why she references pop culture in her work, and the challenges of converting traditional wood forms into metal.

Chevonne Ariss at her desk. Photo by Sam Backhaus.

The Queue: Chevonne Ariss

In her lively, wide-ranging  podcast Cracked, Chevonne Ariss highlights modern stained glass artists. In The Queue, the Portland, Oregon–based glass artist shares about her lightbulb moment with glass, how a thriving online community led her to start her show, and the qualities of a good podcast guest.

Jiha Moon in her painting studio. For her new still life series, Moon mounted Korean mulberry paper, or hanji, on canvas, then used ink  and acrylic to paint symbolic icons including the peach, peony flowers, and haetae, a Korean mythical creature that protects family and loved ones.

The Queue: Jiha Moon

Jiha Moon mixes cultures and materials in her playful, vibrant ceramics. In The Queue, the Tallahassee, Florida–based painter, sculptor, printmaker, and professor shares about her busy upcoming exhibition schedule, how teaching can conquer generational divides, and the traditional textile art that deserves more attention.

Jeff Neil in his Tennessee workshop. Photo courtesy of the artist.

The Queue: Jeff Neil

Jeff Neil melds two traditional craft forms—Shaker boxes and quilts—into delightful wooden boxes and trays meant to be used. In The Queue, the Tennessee-based woodworker shares about the box that first captivated him, his workhorse plane, and a fellow Tennessean who is a masterful chair maker.

Tali Weinberg weaving with plant- and insect-dyed cotton in her former studio. Photo by Melissa Luckenbaugh.

The Queue: Tali Weinberg

Tali Weinberg weaves natural and petrochemical-derived materials into elegant textiles in response to pressing social issues. In The Queue, the Illinois-based artist shares details about her favorite loom, how she combines the personal and the political in her work, and five poignant works about climate change.

Tyrrell Tapaha weaving. Photo courtesy of Bill Hatcher.

The Queue: Tyrrell Tapaha

Tyrrell Tapaha entwines elements of agro-pastoral living and Diné weaving into dazzling textiles. In The Queue, the Flagstaff, Arizona–based sheepherder and fiber artist shares about their free-flowing process, their cherished tools, and a new exhibition on Diné textiles in Santa Fe.

Alison Elizabeth Taylor marquetry hybrid titled The Residency, 2022.

The Queue: Alison Elizabeth Taylor

Alison Elizabeth Taylor’s marquetry hybrid panels depict desert and city life in wood, paint, and collage. In The Queue, the Brooklyn-based artist shares about her process, the layered music she turns to for inspiration, and the historical painting exhibitions she’s looking forward to this fall.

Flower prototypes made with a CNC milling machine.

The Queue: Zahra Almajidi

Zahra Almajidi’s jewelry entices, then challenges, viewers and wearers. In The Queue, the Detroit-based metalsmith shares the unusual textures that drew her into the wild world of jewelry, her favorite tools, and a project that attempts to tackle jewelry’s waste problems.

John Hermanson playing a guitar.

The Queue: John Hermanson

John Hermanson of Limber Bows has crafted a new kind of hiking pole. In The Queue, the Bozeman, Montana–based maker and musician recommends his favorite handcrafted gear, describes a unique tool for his work, and tells us about the summer festivals in his hometown.

Portrait Tilke Elkins

The Queue: Tilke Elkins

For Tilke Elkins, wild pigments contain radical possibilities—for equity, for our relationship with place, and for art. In The Queue, the Oregon-based artist and founder of Wild Pigment Project shares about her first time working with wild pigments, the endless usefulness of rocks, and her favorite conversations from her newsletter Pied Midden.

So Young Park in her studio.

The Queue: So Young Park

So Young Park looks to nature for inspiration for her wild, exuberant jewelry. In The Queue, the metalsmith, who recently returned home to South Korea after many years in the US, shares about her creative process, how her tools bring joy to her practice, and some new techniques and materials she hopes to incorporate into her work.

Cynthia Lahti headshot

The Queue: Cynthia Lahti

In Kelly Reichardt’s new film, Showing Up, Cynthia Lahti’s figurative sculptures steal the show. In this special edition of The Queue, we spoke to Portland, Oregon–based Lahti about how she became involved in the film, what she taught star Michelle Williams about ceramics, and how the obsessive pursuit of beauty makes for great movies.

Kiva Ford green glasses

The Queue: Kiva Ford

Kiva Ford’s eye-popping sculptures and precise scientific implements are masterpieces in glass. In The Queue, the South Bend, Indiana–based glass artist talks about his education in glassblowing, the challenges and puzzles of assembling complex sculptures in a fragile medium, and a tool that makes it possible.

Hyunsoo Alice Kim with 2 pieces of their artwork.

The Queue: Hyunsoo Alice Kim

Hyunsoo Alice Kim weaves innovative materials—many of her own design—into traditional Korean forms. In The Queue, the Seoul- and New York–based artist, researcher, educator, and designer talks about a historic Korean hat, how technological tools enable her practice, and her work with digital fabrication.

Juan Barroso

The Queue: Juan Barroso

Juan Barroso’s vessels carry stories of immigrant labor, both within their forms and painted on their surfaces. In The Queue, the Tennessee-based artist shares why he makes functional vessels, the delayed gratification of pottery, and his favorite artists working in clay.

Margaret Cross

The Queue: Margaret Cross

Margaret Cross’s jewelry holds memories and remains, connecting the living and the dead. In The Queue, the Brooklyn-based artist shares her emotional experiences creating mourning jewelry, the tool that has become an extension of her arm, and the death-related art projects that bring her closer to her loved ones.

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