Anna Kruse

anna KruSe in Conversation with JessiCa BeCkwith

Jessica Beckwith: How do you see the role of play in personal and social/collective empowerment and agency?

Anna Kruse: I am not sure if I see play in social empowerment. I suppose in relation to a sense of freedom, but overall I think of play as a meandering, while I would say that empowerment and agency are quite rooted in a direction of advancement. True play though has no real beginning or end.

JB: Is play a part of your creative process?

AK: Yes, of course, I would say play is an integral part of the process.

JB: Culturally there is a lot of interest and exploration around rewriting narratives that have been binding and damaging. Is this something that you're exploring in your work?

AK: I wouldn’t say my work explores this on a cultural level. I would say my work explores my personal narrative, and that everyone has experienced damage to some degree, but I do not feel I am rewriting narratives.

JB: Have you found personal freedom in the process of play and/or in the rewriting of a narrative that you no longer find valuable? Can you tell us a little bit about that narrative and the ways in which your process has opened up your voice and personal empowerment?

AK: I have found freedom in the process of play. Much of my practice is intuitive, responding to the work as it progresses, with little to no prescribed expectations or outcomes. Of course I know what I want to convey, but I try to respond to outcomes not with it being the end but rather being a moment to meander. At the root of this is play. I think having a more fluid approach to making lends itself to surprises and combinations that one may not have been able to find if only working within strict boundaries.

Clearing the Wax 2020. Ceramic, 28 x 17 x 20 in. (left) How Are You? 2020. Ceramic, 46 x 35 x 59 in. (right)

Anna Kruse

MFA Ceramics