B I O

Kandice Kardell is a visual artist with a practice rooted in alternative photographic processes and fiber/textile techniques. She creates large and small scale textile quilts, collages, and works on paper using cyanotype, natural dyes, stitching, and weaving. Her works are visual meditations on existential themes, particularly the interplay between death and desire. She is interested in societal suppression of grief and denial of death, and the resulting disconnect from the natural world. Often working outdoors, her processes, materials and subject matter are often influenced by—and dependent upon—the four elements.

Kandice earned her bachelor’s degree in art, and began her career as a teaching artist. She worked with diverse student, immigrant, and refugee communities in the United States, using art to affirm learning and connect people across cultures. These experiences shaped her understanding of art as a universal language and ignited her desire to work internationally. Later in her career, she studied linguistics and teaching, and began integrating art into language instruction, fostering creativity while connecting students with expression in a foreign language.

Kandice continues to balance her roles as an educator and artist. Her work has been exhibited regionally, nationally and internationally in both solo and group exhibitions, and is included in several private collections in the United States and abroad. She has worked as a teaching artist domestically and internationally, teaching technique as well as arts-integration in language, writing, math, and science classrooms at universities and grade schools. She has also collaborated on cultural mediation projects with community organizations in the United States.

A R T I S T S T A T E M E N T

My work explores existential themes, particularly the interplay between death and desire, and how societal suppression of grief and denial of mortality create a disconnect from the natural world. By addressing these suppressed truths, I aim to restore a sense of reverence for impermanence and foster a deeper connection to ecological balance. My practice is a visual meditation on these ideas, offering a space to reflect on the complexities of life and loss.

I create large and small-scale textile quilts, collages, and works on paper using alternative photographic processes and fiber/textile techniques. Cyanotype, natural dyes, hand-stitching, and weaving are integral to my process, with many of my pieces developed outdoors. The landscape itself becomes both medium and collaborator, as I allow sun, wind, water, and earth to imprint their presence on my materials. These time-intensive, tactile methods reflect my belief in slowing down to honor the interconnectedness of all living things.

My intention is to challenge societal norms that disconnect us from grief and nature, encouraging viewers to confront their own mortality and relationships with the environment. Through sustainable practices and the integration of reused materials, I emphasize interdependence and the need for balance in a world increasingly defined by consumption.

As an artist, I view my role as a bridge between emotional and ecological worlds, using my work to foster connection and contemplation. My vision is to create art that resonates across cultures and disciplines, inspiring reflection on humanity’s place within the larger natural and existential fabric.

C U R R I C U L U M V I T A E

E D U C A T I O N

2014—2015

  • Master’s degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
    emphasis in second language writing, pedagogy, and curriculum and materials development

2003—2005

  • Bachelor’s degree in Studio Art, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
    emphasis in mixed media fiber arts and photography

R E S I D E N C I E S

2019—2021

  • Tempe Studio Artist Program, Tempe Community Arts/Tempe School District, Tempe, AZ

2018—2019

  • Molly Blank Fund Teaching Artist Program, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ

I N D I V I D U A L E X H I B I T I O N S

2024

  • Spinning Away, Allmo Gallery, Porto, Portugal

2023

  • Portraits and Stills, Cave Bombarda, Porto, Portugal

2021

  • 2020, Desert Crafted, Phoenix, AZ

2020

  • Death/Desire, Biophilia, Phoenix, AZ

2000

  • Synapse, Art One Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ

G R O U P E X H I B I T I O N S

2025

  • TOWARD 2050, Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix, AZ

2024

  • 100x100x100, Atelier 968, Porto, Portugal

  • Co-Crafting Democracy: Fiber Arts and Activism, Women of the Hall, Seneca Falls, NY

2021

  • Light Sensitive, Art Intersection, Gilbert, AZ

2020

  • Light Sensitive, Art Intersection, Gilbert, AZ

2019

  • Choice Cuts 3, The Lodge, Phoenix, AZ

2008

  • Hispanic Heritage, Blue Island Public Library, Blue Island, IL

2005

  • Intermedia, Gallery 100, Tempe, AZ

2004

  • Carry On, The Annex, Phoenix, AZ

  • Small Works, Crisis Gallery, Phoenix, AZ

  • Live, Paper Heart Gallery, Phoenix, AZ

2003

  • Baggage, The Annex, Phoenix, AZ

  • Choke, Paper Heart Gallery, Phoenix, AZ

  • 3x3x3, Thought Crime, Phoenix, AZ

A R T I S T A N D W O R K S H O P
P R E S E N T A T I O N S

2019—2020

  • Arts integration workshop and artist presentation series, Mathematical Printmaking, Tempe Community Arts, Tempe School District #3, Tempe, AZ

  • Arts integration workshop and artist presentation series, Artist Books, Tempe Community Arts, Tempe School District #3, Tempe, AZ

2017

  • Arts integration workshop, Using Visual Literacy to Support Critical Thinking, Writing, and Vocabulary Development, CamTESOL, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

2016

  • Arts integration workshop series, Cultural Identity and Visual Storytelling, English Access Microscholarship Program, Hpa-An and Hopone, Myanmar

  • Arts integration workshop series, Visual Literacy for the EFL Classroom, English Access Microscholarship Program, Hopone, Mawlamyine, and Hpa-An, Myanmar

2009

  • Workshop series, Judaism and Islam: Collaborative Quilting, KAM Isaiah Israel, Chicago, IL

  • Arts integration workshop series, Family Oral Histories and Silk Painting, Changing Worlds, Chicago Public Schools, Chicago, IL

  • Arts integration teacher training, Reflective Practices of Sankofa and Printmaking, Changing Worlds, Whittier Elementary School, Chicago, IL

2008

  • Arts integration workshop series, Family Oral Histories and Silk Painting, Changing Worlds, Chicago Public Schools, Chicago, IL

  • Workshop, Roots: A Community Map of Immigration, Changing Worlds, Albany Park Community Center, Chicago, IL

2006—2007

  • Workshop series, Mural Painting, After School Matters, Gallery 37, Chicago, Public Schools, Chicago, IL

2000

  • Artist presentation and work process, Slide Slam!, Scottsdale Center for the Arts, Scottsdale, AZ

B I B L I O G R A P H Y

2021

2019