Artist Morgan Kinne

Morgan Kinne (b. 1988) is a sculptor and mixed media artist whose work blends material history with conceptual storytelling. She creates sculptures and installations from salvaged architectural materials, transforming fragments of houses and historic structures into playful, thought-provoking forms that reflect on shelter, memory, and change.

Kinne has exhibited nationally and internationally, with recent highlights including her 2025 solo exhibition Timber! in Charleston, SC and participation in the South Carolina Biennial at 701 Center for Contemporary Art in Columbia. She holds a BFA in Sculpture from Winthrop University and an MFA in Sculpture from the University of Edinburgh. Originally from Rock Hill, SC, Kinne has also studied traditional sculptural techniques in Europe, grounding her practice in both craft and contemporary theory.

Her work invites viewers to consider what we build, preserve, or leave behind—offering spaces for reflection, connection, and play.

"Morgan Kinne is a sculptor and mixed media artist whose work blends material history with conceptual storytelling, creating spaces where imagination and reflection meet. Her practice is rooted in working with salvaged and historic materials—wood, plaster, roofing, and canvas—that carry the imprint of past use. By reconfiguring these fragments into new sculptural forms, she highlights the tension between permanence and impermanence, memory and progress, shelter and exposure. Kinne’s sculptures often draw on architectural language, transforming elements of dwellings into playful, interactive, or precarious structures. Through this, she reflects on the shifting meaning of “home” within contexts of gentrification, climate change, and rapid development, while also leaving space for humor, whimsy, and hope. Her process emphasizes both craft and experimentation, merging traditional sculptural techniques with an openness to accident and improvisation. Kinne’s work seeks to invite viewers into moments of reflection and connection—encouraging them to consider not only what we build and preserve, but also what we leave behind."

Tell us a little about yourself (where you are from) and your background in the arts.

I grew up in South Carolina, always a creative kid who loved being outdoors and making things. While I always knew I would study art, I didn’t discover sculpture until college, and it immediately felt like the right fit. I’m a very tactile person, and working in the round offered a sense of freedom and possibility that still excites me today. Alongside my BFA in Sculpture from Winthrop University, I studied anthropology, and that interest in people and culture continues to inform my work today.

After graduating, I worked in Charlotte as an artist for environmental nonprofits, creating props for demonstrations and learning the power of collaborative, community-driven art. I went on to earn my MFA in Sculpture from the University of Edinburgh, where I lived for three years before returning to Charleston. For the past decade, I’ve built a steady studio practice here while teaching sculpture at both the college and secondary level, maintaining my own studio in North Charleston.

What kind of work are you currently making?

I am currently creating sculptural works that reimagine salvaged architectural materials as playful yet contemplative forms. My most recent exhibition, Timber!, was built from wood, roofing, and doors salvaged from a historic Lowcountry cottage now surrounded by development. In that body of work, I transformed fragments of the home into interactive sculptures — abstracted rooflines on wheels, a temporary lean-to structure, and a flagpole made from a barn door and sewn canvas paintings.

These pieces explore the tension between permanence and impermanence, memory and progress, and invite viewers to reflect on what we preserve, rebuild, or leave behind.

What is a day like in the studio for you?

A day in the studio for me doesn’t follow a strict formula. Play and experimentation drive a lot of the initial momentum and I am far more material and process driven than solution. I tend to enter with an idea but not a fixed outcome, which allows the work to shift and evolve as I go. I enjoy that openness—I'm interested in making pieces that can continue beyond me, whether by being handled and interacted with by others or reclaimed by their environment. I love the process- the beginning when I don't have a clear direction is fun for me because it means I can tinker and play. Once the idea takes hold, though, I shift gears completely and turn into a total workhorse, working steadily until it is fully formed.

What are you looking at right now and/or reading?

Right now, I’m looking at how spaces are laid out—like how streets and buildings and sidewalks and parking lots are constructed to influence how we move and subconsciously experience a place. I remember reading an interview with Olafur Eliasson a long time ago where he spoke about similar ideas- how we are influenced by our environment in unconscious ways, but that environment is designed to influence us in specific ways we're just not attuned to, and that perspective has stayed with me. It resonates with my own practice, which often looks at how built environments affect the way we feel, move, and interact.

As far as reading, I’m all over the place—haha! I bounce between fiction and nonfiction a lot. I love biographies. Right now though, I’m on book five of a series about the Napoleonic wars fought on dragons. I’m so invested now I need to finish all nine (i think) before moving on! I love series because I can really get lost in a story, and even the nonfiction that resonates with me—whether it’s a scientific study, an artistic text, or a biography—tends to be the ones written like good stories. I think that carries into my own artwork and practice as well. After all, life really is all about stories.

Where can we find more of your work? (ex. website/insta/gallery/upcoming shows)

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/morgankinne/

I currently have work in Columbia, SC as part of the SC Biennial at 701CCA and I will be a part of a few shows in the coming months around Charleston. In November, I will be showing in High Point, NC at The Art Gallery at Congdon Yards. Instagram is the best way to keep up with what I am doing and making and where to find me!