Anne T. Kmieck's longtime examination of historical views of the female condition finally surfaced in her art after a working trip to Mexico in 1997.  She was deeply affected by the Mexican cultural views that the past coexists with the present and what appears on the surface of events veils deeper meanings.  Her observation of indigenous people’s celebration of their traditions and language through their clothing inspired her to use dresses as a metaphor for the female body.  For her, the fabric functions as the epidermal layer of the body.  Treatment can range from burying the outer surface of the dress with many actions of layering, to penetrating the surface by piercing or burning imagery into the skin exposing layers beneath.  Her alteration of a dress is an exploration of a variety of historical, social, religious, biological, and popular intellectual constructs about the female body.

Her work has been exhibited in numerous shows throughout the Northeast Ohio region as well as in the Chicago area.  Her participation in shows in the last year include Women's Invitational: Healing Intentions at Cuyahoga Community College in Parma, Ohio; Seams Like Art at Street Level Gallery in Highwood, Illinois; and Women Respond:  Three Contemporary Cleveland Artists at Hawken School in Gates Mills, Ohio.  In 2000 her installation entitled Opening Seams: Redressing History was featured at Wickenden Gallery at Case Western Reserve University.  She has had several solo shows in the Cleveland area including Y’un, de Ella, of Her: Unmasking Feminism in Mexico, at Escuela Popular in 1999; Breath and Water: Fields of Exchange,  Dobama Theater Gallery in 1997, and Confluence of Mind and Matter, at Mandel Jewish Community Center of Cleveland in 1994.

Anne T. Kmieck has a BFA from the Cleveland Institute of Art and a MA from Case Western Reserve University.  She teaches at Hawken Upper School in Gates Mills, Ohio where her students are a continuous wellspring of inspiration.

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