Abbey Kuhe

"Whale" with Chinese Dragon, carved sgraffito ceramics, whale sculpture

2019

Abbey Kuhe’s formative years were largely spent searching for solace and serenity in the wilderness of central Connecticut and the island shores of Massachusetts. It wasn’t until after high school that she discovered a penchant for making art; specifically figure drawing and portraiture. She moved to NYC to attend The Parson’s School of Design. However, due to lack of finances, her art education ended after the foundation year. She spent the next five years working in fashion and film, exposing her to many of the shadow sides of creative industry, before ultimately putting herself back through school in a different discipline. She earned her BA with honors from The New School for Social Research in European Intellectual History, focusing on pre-political feminist philosophy and gendered epistemology. Always longing to make art, but stifled by inner criticism and anxiety, Abbey discovered a second chance in clay. A decade after dropping out of art school, she was urged by a friend to try a local open studio and has been experimenting in ceramics ever since. In 2016 Abbey moved to New Orleans with her two children for her partner’s new job at Tulane. Making up for lost time, she has been furiously training with William Depaux and Jeremy Jernegan at Newcomb College. Abbey’s work is inspired and informed by myriad visual and conceptual resources, from the intersections of social and climate justice to the golden age of children’s book illustration; from biophilic philosophies of biology to 19th Century textile design; from divine feminine mythologies to 16thcentury scientific expedition illustration. Throughout, Abbey draws from a rich well of seemingly disparate interests that find cohesion in her visual vocabulary, anchored in narrative and history.