cHURCH OF MONIKA: Bella Kiser

WHEN: NOVEMBER 12, 2023, 11:00AM – 1:00PM

WHERE: OPEN SOURCE GALLERY

Inspired by the rice dispenser that lived in her maternal grandparents home, Bella Kiser will discuss her latest work in progress, “Rice Box”, a remembrance of Lola and Lolo, who gave so much and asked for so little in return. When she was a child, Kiser and her brothers were fascinated by their grandparent’s rice box – pulling one of three levers to release rice into a lime green bucket, listening to the sound of the grains falling back onto themselves and then onto the hard plastic of the top compartment as they refilled the dispenser. A blissful loop. This piece is a scaled up version of the original object, made soft, wearable, and interactive with upholstery foam, recycled fabric, and rice. “Rice Box” is the next iteration of Kiser’s “MobileHome Series,” an ongoing project that reimagines childhood memories and the boxes in her life.

Bella Kiser (she/her) is an interdisciplinary mixed race Filipino-American artist from Chicago, IL currently based in Detroit, MI. She uses wearables, fibers, sculpture, performance, virtual reality, and sound, to build her world of Soft Architecture, which she defines as “a malleable and ever-changing building technique that is in constant exchange with memory. It is a fabritecture of susceptible surfaces formed from intangible experiences.” Her work critiques American productivity culture, examines physical sensations associated with comfort/discomfort, and explores her identity and relationship with race, otherness, and home. Kiser received a BFA in Studio Art and a BS in Environmental Studies from Tufts University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Combined Degree Program.