Kristin Field – SAIC Graduation Exhibition 2026

SAIC SHOWS 2026 GRADUATE EXHIBITIONS

Graduates

SAIC SHOWS 2026 GRADUATE EXHIBITIONS

Kristin Field

Master of Fine Arts in Studio, Fiber and Material Studies

Graduate Exhibition Two

kfield2@saic.edu

fieldandgardner.com

Kristin Field is a textile artist, educator, and gardener based in Chicago, IL. Working with homegrown plant matter and other natural dyes, pigments, and fibers, she seeks to give attention and recognition to the subtle wonders that surround us in our everyday lives through slow, process and place-based work. She finds inspiration in the intersections of fine art, contemporary craft, and science, and her work values and expresses curiosity.

Kristin is an MFA candidate in Fiber and Material Studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has completed artist residencies at Penland School of Craft, Lillstreet Art Center, Chicago Public Library, and Kriti Gallery & Residency in India. As an arts educator, Kristin has taught classes with Lillstreet Art Center, Botanical Colors, Garfield Park Conservatory, Harold Washington Library, and Lurie Garden.

Kristin Field - the katydids were louder (detail)

the katydids were louder (detail), 2025, wool, silk, sea cell, and cotton fibers dyed with homegrown indigo, madder root, and sand dock root, 28”x 60 in.

This piece was handwoven on a floor loom as part of a series of weavings made with yarn naturally dyed with plants harvested from my 2025 garden.

Kristin Field - the katydids were louder

the katydids were louder, 2025, wool, silk, sea cell, and cotton fibers dyed with homegrown indigo, madder root, and sand dock root, 28”x 60 in.

This piece was handwoven on a floor loom as part of a series of weavings made with yarn naturally dyed with plants harvested from my 2025 garden.

Kristin Field - soil cosmologies

soil cosmologies, 2025, soil chromatography (silver nitrate and dissolved soil samples on qualitative filters), variable dimensions

For this chromatography series, I collected soil from most of the places I had lived over the last 12 years in Chicago to better understand the soil that supported the plants I grew that in turn supported me throughout those years. The jars of soil I gathered all looked relatively the same, but this slow process revealed their unique character and beauty, each its own little universe.

Kristin Field - a mud dauber made its nest at our door (detail)

a mud dauber made its nest at our door (detail), 2025, wool, silk, sea cell, and cotton fibers dyed with homegrown coreopsis, indigo, madder root, and sand dock root, 28” x 60"

This piece was handwoven on a floor loom as part of a series of weavings made with yarn naturally dyed with plants harvested from my 2025 garden.

Kristin Field - a slightly greener thing

a slightly greener thing, 2025, 81 handmade natural pigments

From May - October of 2025 I set out to better know each of the plants growing in my garden. I paid close attention to when plants emerged, bloomed, & died, and I kept record of when I harvested their leaves, roots, stems, or flowers. I simmered the plants to create dyes and then transformed those dyes into pigments with the addition of a metal salt and soda ash, filtering, and time. Over the course of 7 months I made 81 pigments from 77 plants.