STITCHED GLASS

In 2003, Kirk was awarded a significant Chalmers Foundation Fellowship through the Ontario Arts Council in support of Stitched Glass, an installation of 5.5’ x 8’ tapestry panels, knit in the style of stained glass. The work explores the commonalities and conflicts of the three Abrahamic faiths: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. 

Kirk’s background as a PK – a preacher’s kid - inspired his interest in religion, spirituality, and interfaith empathy. With Stitched Glass, he found a way to combine both his faith and textile interests.

Directed by Jennifer Tarver, and performed by Kirk, the show recounts Kirk’s artistic and spiritual journey of hand-knitting the giant project, and his hope to contribute to the vital conversation about xenophobia, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, dealing with internal and external strife, and fear of the other.

The show, produced by Ergo Arts Theatre, premiered at the Aga Khan Museum’s Auditorium in May, 2019 and has already toured Ontario for 49 shows. It was given 6 out of 5 stars by CFMU Hamilton, 5 out of 5 stars by Mooney on Theatre, and was named a Critic’s Fringe Pick in Toronto, Ottawa and Hamilton, as well as One of ‘Top Ten Shows to See in May 2019’ by NOW Magazine. It tells the story of a journey that you need to experience.

Kirk could not have foreseen the scope of the work. It took 15 years of research, design and knitting, to finally complete all three tapestries. But then the question became, how to share the installation with audiences so that it could do more than just sit in a gallery? Kirk’s profound desire was to use Stitched Glass to create an opportunity for interfaith dialogue. In 2018, Kirk and his wife, Claire Ross Dunn, co-wrote The Knitting Pilgrim, a multidisciplinary one-person theatrical experience that uses storytelling, image projection and the Stitched Glass panels – collectively over 90 pounds of knitting – as its set.

Huge thanks to fabulous filmmakers Ian Daffern and Omar Majeed for the great short 'Stitched Glass - The Documentary.' Weirdly wonderful to see my knitting pilgrimage captured on film. And congrats winning the Best Short Documentary award at the 2021 Forest City Film Festival ! Well done!

To book the 65-minute show and 30-minute post-show talk-back, please contact us.

Photos by Jorjas Photography