Check Out Morgan Bukovec’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Morgan Bukovec. 

Hi Morgan, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve always been a curious explorer of the world and collector of things. As a kid, I was transfixed by the colors and textures around me, especially when in nature. I continued to find joy in making and creating things throughout my school years and into college. It wasn’t until my third year at The University of Dayton that I realized my strong passion for the arts and switched my major to pursue a dual degree in both Fine Arts and K-12 Arts Education. Through these years, I gained mentorship and found my own creative style, connected to my interests and identity. With the goal of building experience and community, I moved back to Cleveland after graduation and worked with several community art spaces including: moCa Cleveland, Spaces, Community Arts Center, Kaiser Gallery, and Headspace Gallery, providing art engagement and workshops. 

Over the past five years, I’ve learned how to sustain a healthy studio practice, followed my curiosities, submitted my artwork across the country and internationally, and have been committed to “putting myself – my art – out there,” while finding time for exploration and play in my studio. In November of 2022, I completed my first solo show at Kasier Gallery in Cleveland, Ohio that exhibited “THE SERVICE INDUSTRY STITCH PROJECT,” a series of work that highlights the power of words and my personal decade-long journey working in the service industry. 

When I reflect on “how I started and how I got here” I think about the strong, creative women in my life who have supported and encouraged me to pursue my curiosities. I think about this quote: “Do whatever brings you to life, then. Follow your own fascinations, obsessions, and compulsions. Trust them. Create whatever causes a revolution in your heart” (Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert). I feel grateful for my own strength and inner trust that has guided me along my path and I look forward to more discoveries along the way. 

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Just like the waves of the ocean, there have been many ups and down, but I am committed to moving with the flow of life. One challenge that I have experienced over the years is applying my artwork to multiple open calls for art galleries and publications and not being accepted. This is an investment of my time, energy, and finances. Although feelings of failure, disappointment, and doubt creep in, I give myself space to feel. I also give myself space to find compassion and feel proud of my efforts, despite the outcome. I measure my worth by my dedication to my path, not by my successes or failures. 

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I work with found objects across mediums including collage, textiles, and installation, focusing on the themes of identity, storytelling, and fleeting moments and objects across time. 

I feel the most proud of my latest artwork series that is the result of the past decade of my work in the service industry. I was recently awarded a gift grant by the Kanyer Art Collection to complete this one-hundred-work series: SERVICE INDUSTRY STITCH PROJECT (@serviceindustrystitchproject) and I exhibited this series as a solo show at Kasier Gallery in 2022. The series is made up of used guest checkbooks with words and phrases cross-stitched onto them. Each remark, command, and question are quotes taken from my experience as a server, with male customers. Its inspiration stems further back, budding from my first awareness of the commentary my female body endures without my content. This series is a personal release and a way to gain ownership over the words said to me by men. It is the acknowledgement of language that perpetuates sexism, microagressions, and sexual harassment spoken and heard not only in the workplace but in all spaces. 

Just as the stitches in these works are permanently punctured, the words said to me by men cannot be erased or undone. My needle, sewing thread, and guest checkbook act as tools of meditative resistance, while referencing the historically rooted practice of cross-stitching and needlework as “women’s work.” This series consists of one-hundred works that individually and collectively question the patriarchal-dominated society we live in while acting as a force of both personal release and ownership of my female form. 

This series has been a personal healing journey for me, especially over the past two years of making it. My hope is that is connects with others through conversation and questioning the power of words. 

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up.
One of my favorite childhood memories is experiencing nature with my dad. I have countless memories of us frolicking along in a local park while identifying leaves and admiring their colors and textures. I learned how to make a bonfire with my dad in our own backyard, which is something that we look forward to doing together – even today. This connection to nature at a young age allowed my mind to follow its curiosities. It encouraged me to explore National Parks in my adulthood and has taught me how to find peace and presence. 

Contact Info:

• Website: https://morganbukovec.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/morganbukovec/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/morganbukovecart/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/morgan-bukovec/
• Other: https://www.patreon.com/morganbukovec