Kat Sours is a Senior Fibers student who is off to Brooklyn in June to work as a production artist. In addition to her work in Fibers, Kat previously served as the Editor-in-Chief at the Manor. You’ve probably seen her around town, usually with a pink fluffy tote bag slung over her shoulder, in a Ganni dress that makes her look like she walked straight out of Copenhagen. Last week I sat down with Kat in the infamous Foxy Courtyard to reflect on her past four years, her future and senior collection, Feel and Feeling.
Tell me about developing your concept at the beginning of your senior year and how it all started.
Sours: I started working with liquid rubber my junior year and working with different material processes like knitting, heat setting, and mold making. I really like the idea of creating textures that are so visceral that even if you’re seeing them through a screen, you feel like you’re touching them with your eyes. I was making a lot of samples, and all of it was disturbing but also interesting because using the body as a visual model is familiar to us because it is us. But then, when you see it as other than yourself, it becomes unsettling. The desire to understand the material is what compels you to reach out and touch it.
As the year went on, how did your concept change?
Sours: In the winter quarter, I focused on soft, inviting textures that still exist in unusual forms. I also started doing a daily practice where I would write every day and then map out the writing using colors assigned to key components of the script. I had fifty of those writings, and then this quarter, I turned one of them into a giant soft sculpture. Again, it’s like that duality of feeling something physically or feeling something emotionally.
I know you’ve researched so much on abnormal materiality as well as physical touch. Can you explain that process?
Sours: I like looking at industrial materials and how they can be applied to fine art or fashion. For the latex process I’ve been using, I was researching it more, and it’s how they make condoms and latex gloves. In the fall quarter, I was researching scientific journals. Before I was even making anything, I studied a lot about sensory disorders like sensory over-responsivity, which I had when I was little. It’s having a certain emotional response or aversion to different stimuli, and it’s prominent in children, especially those who have faced some sort of trauma. The materials came naturally for me to start using just because I love research and experimenting. I really appreciate traditional fibers practices, and I think my work exists in a perfect marriage of experimentation while still being rooted in those traditional practices.
Freshman year at SCAD, what was your plan? What did you think was going to happen, and how have you grown from then?
Sours: Well, when I first came in, I was a fashion design major. The biggest thing for me to overcome was still being so attached to working in fashion while having my fashion internship and having to admit to myself that although I love fashion, it’s not really what I want to do in the sense of working in the industry. Being a fine artist was hard to accept, and it still is now. What’s interesting now is that I look at my work like the sculptures I made and could actually see it in my home. What’s nice about being in the Fibers department is that they foster such a creative environment – they’re not going to tell you “no.”
Now that you’re about to graduate, what’s the biggest takeaway from your time at SCAD?
Sours: The community that I’ve built. I grew up constantly feeling like I was so weird and did not fit in. I think many people come to SCAD and feel the same way, and they tell you you’re going to find your people, and that wasn’t necessarily true in the beginning. I think it’s hard to describe it; it’s like suddenly, I looked around and realized that I was surrounded by the best people and had made the best friends. Those are also people that I work with and will continue to work with and stay friends with. You’re never going to be the coolest person or the best-dressed person, but I found a happy place here with finding who I was and who I wasn’t.
How has SCAD prepared you for your future?
Sours: They provide resources if you seek them out. Especially with Shoplifter, she came to the Fibers program and wasn’t really supposed to have a portfolio review, but she was there, so I just asked. [Sours spent last summer interning for Shoplifter at her studio in Brooklyn]. All of the resources are put in front of you; you have to go after them and not be afraid to make a fool of yourself. Also, doing the Manor prepared me so much for the future. I learned how to deal with people and not be afraid to speak in front of people because that was one of my phobias.
Can you tell me about your plans after graduation?
Sours: I have a job at a luxury residential textile firm that does wallpapers, rugs and tiles, called Aimée Wilder. I’m going to be a production artist, so basically, I’ll be doing work under her name, helping run the business, and getting to travel with her, specifically to “Milan Interior Design Week.” I’ll be living in Brooklyn while simultaneously working on my own personal work. I’m hoping to start selling work and starting to show in more galleries. I currently have a piece going to a gallery in June in West Virginia from an STA competition.
Last question. What advice would you give your Freshman year self?
Sours: I would tell her not to worry so much about what exactly she was trying to do with her whole life. I spent a lot of time trying to categorize myself in fashion, fine art, or interior. When I was styling a lot, I was like, I am a stylist, but can’t be anything else. You can be a lot of things. Just be nice and be yourself. I just tried really hard to have a certain image for myself. Don’t worry so much about what people think of you.
Special thanks to Kat @katsours for participating in this interview!
Interview conducted by Nicholson Baird.
Photo courtsey of Coco Hubbeling.
Headshot by Nick Thompsen.
Graphic by Emily Tobias.