“HARD EDGE soft thread” Contrasts Roommates Styles Exploring Feminine Complexity
02.27.2025
KCAI Seniors Chloe Eddins ('25 Painting) and Myla McCune ('25 Ceramics) collaborated on the exhibition at Vulpes Bastille (1737 Locust Street), opening Friday, March 7, from 6–9 PM.
Description for HARD EDGE soft thread
Femininity is a balance of contrasts: delicate yet strong. Our work honors memories through decoration, exploring growth, decay, preservation, and loss, while reflecting the joy and grief of the feminine experience. Myla transforms textiles into rigid ceramics, creating tension between softness and strength. Chloe uses soft materials and bold details, taking textiles beyond their domestic roots. Both artists explore the contrast between flexible and rigid materials, challenging how we view their purpose. Chloe's glass swords and Myla's ceramic tiles embody both fragility and strength. Together, their work highlights the complexities of femininity.
HARD EDGE soft thread will be on display at Vulpes Bastille, with the opening night on March 7 from 6–9 PM. Additional viewing dates are March 8th, 15th, and 22nd, from 1–4 PM.
Felt and Fantasy
Chloe Eddins (Senior, Painting) moves a needle swiftly through layers of felt. She’s currently working on a single square, inspired by an image from a short film she made during her junior year, where white figures move in a circle. About a week before the exhibition opens, she’s already completed fifteen similar squares, each featuring a different image.
"Fifteen more to go," she says.
Eddins operates in the realm of fantasy. Growing up, she wanted to be a princess, a vampire, a witch, a mermaid. As she nears the end of her time at the Kansas City Art Institute, she’s leaned into this childhood interest. The felt squares are now becoming a border for a large painting of her embracing a unicorn—an intimate moment, she says. “They haven’t noticed us yet.”
“I wanted to maintain that gentleness in the border and I think that's why I went with the felt and the tiny stitches and the silver thread. I wanted it to shine and have moments in the sun,” Eddins says.
Exploring Feminitity
The painting will be part of HARD EDGE soft thread, alongside other works, including a chandelier made of glass swords. “They can hurt you, but they can break, and I like that tension,” Eddins says, linking her art to her exploration of femininity.
The project is a collaboration with her roommate, who comes from a different background and uses a different approach, but shares the same thematic interests.
Hides and Tiles
Myla McCune (Senior, Ceramics) grew up on a pig farm. She dreamed of being a cowgirl, learning all she could about taking care of animals. At 13, when she shared her ambition with her father, she was confronted with a different expectation that shaped her understanding of gender roles.
"The farm was going to my brother. I was supposed to get married,” McCune recalls. Femininity plays a central role in her current work, which retains a country aesthetic through quilting patterns and animal hides. She also crafted a glass piece in the shape of a gun, using a mold made from a firearm she received as a child.
“It was called 'Baby's First Rifle.' It was bright pink. I’d go outside and shoot squirrels for dinner,” McCune says. She doesn't flinch at the subject of death, having developed a farm-hardened callous to it. “We had this pet pig named Felicia, and one night at dinner, my six-year-old brother asked, ‘How’s Felicia taste?’ That’s when I realized we were eating our pet pig.”
Lately, McCune has been working with animal hides, laser-engraving images onto them. A coyote skin on her studio wall features an image of herself and her mother, burned into the surface. She’s also been busy at Beals Studio, working on cowhide panels, with plans to create a textured quilt. “The process does smell,” she says.
Exploring Femininity
In ceramics, McCune is drawn to tiles. "They're both fragile and strong. And that's how I feel about my femininity—it's joy, community, guilt, and shame," she says. The tiles are arranged in a quilted pattern, paying homage to the unrecognized women crafters she grew up around.
Shared Artistic Journey
The exhibition not only connects contrasting artistic styles but also serves as a collaboration between roommates. “We’ve been living together for about two years, and she’s one of my closest friends,” Eddins says.
McCune adds, “Everyone thinks [Chloe] is super shy, but in reality, she is not because she’s super clean. I’m a little bit dirty. She’s like, ‘You need to clean that up.’” Despite their personality differences, the pair is always there for each other. If the light is on, there’s always time to talk. “She sews, and she’s amazing. I’ve never seen anyone who can just, like, naturally stitch like her,” McCune says.
Eddins feels likewise. “I have so much respect for [Myla], and we inspire each other. It’s really awesome to do a show with her. And through hand sewing, I got to spend a lot of time with these images and these memories, and that’s really special.”