Assemblage, 2020-2021
oil paint, cut and stretched canvas, bleached and knitted yarn, recycled fabric, photograph collage, and wood
This work is an assemblage of experiments and studies completed during Katie’s first year of MFA study from fall 2020 to spring 2021. The installation above, displayed in the Katzen Art Center in spring 2021, depicts multiple concurrent projects in various media that shared color palettes, materials, and emotions. The playful, curious nature of the work sharply contrasts with the uncertainty and fear of making work in isolation during the Covid-19 pandemic. During that first year, Katie’s MFA cohort was forced to keep their studio doors closed and work entirely alone. Lectures and critiques were virtual and students were forbidden from entering each other’s studios. Katie felt directionless, grasping at objects and leaning into materiality as a companion. She ventured in many directions, perpetually searching and abandoning. When displaying these pieces together, however, a broader questioning surfaces: could the uncertainty of playfulness in the studio teach her to endure the uncertainty of the world outside of it?
