KnitScapes Celebrates a Connected Community in Moore Park

If you’ve strolled along the now complete First Avenue Linear Park lately, you likely noticed some surprising new pops of color along the way!

In celebration of the completion of the Linear Park’s grand opening, King of Prussia District commissioned artist J. Curtaz to create a temporary artwork installation along portions of the Park.

The art installation, entitled KnitScapes, showcases colorful crocheted pieces around seven light poles in front of 1000 First Avenue and 933 First Avenue, as well as the handrail in front of 933 First Avenue. In total, the eye-catching installation features a colorful array of hundreds of feet of yarn. Curtaz was selected for King of Prussia District’s first temporary art installation, as her medium illustrates the knitting together of properties along the Linear Park to create a public amenity for all to enjoy.

Artist Statement:
I take a practice often thought of as feminine domestic craft and bring it into public space, imposing my imagination and “feminine” perspective on the urban landscape. I crochet giant weeds, insects, real and imaginary creatures, creating oversized fantastical renditions of flora and fauna, that I install, with and without permission, on chain link fences, city lamp posts, and, occasionally, gallery walls. My public installations play with scale, with subject, with context and location. 

In KnitScapes I was interested in giving precedence to the space itself.  I didn’t want to impose outside imagery, but wanted the Linear Park to take center stage. I love the idea of local businesses donating land to be used as public green space. With KnitScapes, I wanted to enhance and bring attention to that space, wrap it in a brightly colored sweater, that would cause even those people who use the space daily to look at it differently, to take notice again.

Bio:
Jessica Curtaz is a Philadelphia-based street artist and arts advocate. She crochetsweeds, insects, real and imaginary creatures, and other over-sized flora and fauna onto the urban landscape, bringing a feminized craft out of the home and onto the streets. Jessica works as a teaching artist, specializing in adaptive teaching methods to special needs populations, including the blind and visually impaired, and adults and children with physical and intellectual disabilities.

Learn more about J. Curtaz’s work on her website or follow her on Instagram at  @bindingthings.