Kyle Meyer: Interwoven

KYLE MEYER has worked between eSwatini (formerly Swaziland) and New York City since 2009, creating richly tactile artworks as conceptually layered and complicated as they are visually lush and intricate. In this debut monograph, Meyer’s portraits from his Interwoven series reflect an interest in infusing digital photography with traditional Swazi crafts and in giving voice to silenced members of the LGBTQ community, who are marginalized in eSwatini. Tension between the necessity of the individuals to hide their queerness for basic survival and their desire to express themselves openly inform both the subject and the means of fabricating Meyer’s unique works. 

Each work from the Interwoven series is labor-intensive, taking days or sometimes weeks to complete. Meyer often photographs his subjects wearing a traditional head wrap made from a vibrantly colored textile. He then produces a large-scale print of the portrait and hand-shreds the photograph, together with the fabric from the head wrap, weaving the strips into a complexly patterned, three-dimensional work. With the final portrait, Meyer presents each person’s individuality and beauty while using the fabric as a screen to protect their identity. " Included in each copy of this book, you will find a unique piece of fabric torn from the remnants of the Interwoven project. It is intended to serve as a bookmark.

The book includes a foreword by Todd J. Tubutis, Director, Art Museum of West Virginia University, and a conversation between Meyer and Andy Campbell, Assistant Professor of Critical Studies, University of Southern California.