Today we’d like to introduce you to Kenniese Franklin.
Hi Kenniese, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I never had plans to become an artist. I had a consistent writing practice the year before leaving home for college, but it was more so meant to cope with loneliness than it was to nurture creativity. “I don’t mind if I’m not missed once I’m gone, as long as I’ll be appreciated where I’m headed,” I wrote in May of 2012, 3 months before my departure. Like bell hooks, I “felt like an exile, as though I was being forced to leave the landscape of my origin, my native place because it would not allow me to grow, to be fully self-actualized.” While I was loved and protected growing up, I still faced familial dysfunction and cultural displacement that I was eager to leave behind.
In July 2012, I did just that. My mother and I stuffed my ‘02 Corolla with my belongings ’til the back bumper sagged. From the prairie to the bush, we dragged my things to Tallahassee, Florida, where I had registered myself as a sophomore psychology major at Florida A&M University. I hadn’t visited the school or the city before moving. I just showed up, convinced that “Florida was calling me.”
Ironically, I had to leave Colorado to fall in love with nature. The perspective I had of my home state was stained with the emotional grime one accumulates in their birthplace. I couldn’t fully grasp the beauty of the outdoors until I moved to the South. The southern landscape instantly became a companion, a confidant and later my primary art medium by way of the banana leaf.
Within 5 years of leaving home, I’d lived in 5 different apartments, each one decorated to reflect my growth. Since I was a kid, I intuitively knew curating your home space to complement your lifestyle was immensely important. Through my college years I cultivated my own design philosophy that grew into a design studio and decor shop named Spatial Therapy. Between my visual art practice and my design studio, I have robust offerings that feed me, my family and my community in a multitude of ways.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
On every path – creative or otherwise – obstacles are inevitable. Obstacles are opportunities to acquire skills and lessons one will need wherever they are headed. I have a long list of challenges I’ve successfully navigated, and another list I’m currently maneuvering through.
As of late, my challenge is to harness the magic, the courage, the sense of invincibility that first nudged me onto this creative path over a decade ago. I’m reconnecting with the version of me that created fearlessly for the fun of it – not because anyone knew my name, not because I had an exhibition to prepare for, but just to bring ideas to life.
As you begin to see some semblance of success, the stakes start to feel higher. I’ve found myself taking less risks and moving pragmatically in order to maintain this “thing” I’ve built. But time and time again I’ve shown myself that my best work emerges when I’m free from whatever expectations I think I have to answer to. At this moment, I’m honing that pocket of creativity that answers to no one and adheres only to the standards of my internal guidance.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m an artist, writer and designer who’s best known for my banana leaf art. I make objects from banana fiber that I grow and harvest myself. With each piece I create, be it sculpture, wall art, or household object, I teach myself a new way to manipulate the leaves to tell a particular story. Some notable techniques I’ve developed are banana coils, banana thread and banana confetti. These techniques makes the banana leaf nearly unidentifiable to most people.
My art practice is guided by the growth cycle of the banana plant, which is of course, in harmony with Earth’s rhythm as a whole. This work extends the life of natural materials and finds alternate ways to use what may be otherwise categorized as waste. I also work with common building materials such as plaster, wood and concrete to create pieces inspired by nature’s rhythm.
In 2018 I founded Spatial Therapy, an experimental design studio and decor shop that harmonizes the built environment with the natural world. Spatial Therapy is a container for set design, interior design, home decor fabrication and commentary on the spiritual aspects of placekeeping. Through Spatial Therapy I build sets for art-centered events and curate residential spaces that nurture creativity and subtly heal the spirit. I keep a collection of vintage and bespoke home decor pieces that emphasize organic form and Earth-based materials. Clients can shop the vintage collection in person or online.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
My success is informed by how free I feel moment to moment. I want to move at my own pace. To lay in the grass and watch the clouds drift with my baby girl. To go on road trips and pull over when I see a pretty landscape to photograph or a texture I want to reference in the future. I want to pivot as I please. I want to move on my own time.
I do want collectible furniture and fine linens and luxury hotel stays, but I won’t suffocate or wring myself dry to maintain my access to them.
As long as I have agency over my thoughts and live according to my own value system, I’m free and in position to claim success as I see it.
Contact Info:
- Website: kenniesefranklin.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/telekenniese
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtXzpvARZM0cNziY71r6ltQ
- Other: spatialtherapy.etsy.com
Image Credits
Personal Photo: Taylor S. Hunter Additional Photos: Image 2: Taylor S. Hunter Image 5: Eye Am November Image 6: Eye Am November Image 7: Taylor S. Hunter
