William Panagiotis Kikiras Carter

My work consists of Illustrative quilts and fabric puppets that coalesce into fantasy-inspired musical vignettes. Featuring human-faced creatures, stitched together with golden thread and adorned with glitter tulle, my quilts and puppet performances theatricalize the many aspects of my experience as a queer person of color in this country. Working with commonly found textiles, the vibrant colors and textures of my work invoke the comfort of a warm and safe blanket- inviting my audience to engage in narratives that may be otherwise uncomfortable.

Following in the footsteps of Black American and Caribbean quilters, my work serves as a documentation of the current state of our world, and provides my own insight into traversing it. I tell stories of finding community- of longing for love- of performing identity- of metamorphosis- of internalized shame- and of being a spectacle. My work communicates these vulnerable and intense themes by presenting them as beautiful universal truths. Coming from the mouths of singing creatures as they change form, it helps those who relate feel seen and understood. 

I believe that human beings are larger and more abstract than their bodies appear to be, and my work gives physicality to that unseen extensivity. Creating works of fantasy allows the audience to relate to other worldly characters, encouraging them to identify with creatures that don't physically resemble themselves. My work envelops the viewer in a world where they can release the outside expectations that they subconsciously uphold, and find connection and community in avenues that they would never have expected.

To be queer is to be ever-changing, and to be ever-changing is to be human.