Engineering-Inspired Embroidery and a Return to Kenya with Moira Kloster

Moira Kloster completed the Level 4 Diploma in Experimental Stitch and Multi-Media at the Gail Harker Center for Creative Arts.

Interview Overview
Gail Harker interviews Moira about beginning her embroidery courses with two distinct creative objectives—an approach Moira calls Two Styles, One Artist.

Engineering-Inspired Embroidery
Drawn to overlooked details in the landscape, Moira developed work around several themes: a roadwork stitch book with asphalt-recipe pages; telephone-pole skylines; a tower rhythm study; metal shavings; and fire-hydrant intrusions.

Goldwork and Other Techniques
Her work also included Goldwork miniatures, Blackwork, and Canvas Work.

Early Life in Kenya
Moira reflects on her childhood roots in Kenya and recalls landscapes filled with lush trees and flowers.

Returning to Kenya
During her return to Africa in 2023, Moira explored orphan elephants and her Purple Elephant Embroidery Series, blackwork wildlife scenes, a girls’ leadership camp, and the ways village life had changed.

Two large appliqué panels, titled Creating My Kenyan Story in Cloth, highlight some of the visit’s most important people and events.