Sal Lovink McKinnell:
A Corrugated Nudge

Bar size, Cotton corduroy 
September - February 2024

Sal Lovink McKinnell (They/She) is a white queer settler artist currently practicing in Tkaronto (Toronto). Sal’s work is textile-based and strongly relies on research of material, colour, emotion and engages with a sense of play. Their practice is focused on creating work that explores the sensorial experience of touch.

She is compelled by lines and fluff and textures run amuck, by repetition, repetition, repetition on repeat. Sal has worked as an arts facilitator and teacher, researcher, coordinator, and textile consultant. They’re looking forward to the smell of fall, the feeling of walking on frost covered grass, and a soft touch.
 













_{Documentation courtesy of Alison Postma}

QSO:
bad 2 the bone

A Corrugated Nudge is a handwoven cotton corduroy textile. Corduroy is made up of ground and pile picks; the ground is the pink grid and the pile is made of fluffy green cotton. It’s woven, cut, and shaped by hand to create the pattern. By changing the scale, structure, colourway, and pattern of the corduroy I aim to create a new and unexpected tactile interaction.

With this piece I’m interested in the tension held between the urge to touch and the permission to engage. It is in the touch and tactility of the work that you can truly feel/explore/experience the work, it cannot be understood solely through the visual. To this end I want this piece to feel inviting, intriguing, and engage people's deep urge to touch – their tactile desire. Touch is such an essential part of the making process that it feels integral to experiencing/ viewing the work.
This work was also motivated by a desire to bring a sense of joy/play and childlike wonder into the gallery space. I’m compelled by touch-immersive woven works as a way to question standard practices around physical interaction with art. I envision someone leaning against the bar, chatting, and stroking or playing with the fabric, letting touch be present in their experience of the space.