Kat Spears was born in Georgia and raised in Lexington, Kentucky. Their work draws on images and memories of everyday experience to explore mysteries of empathy, perception, and unselfing.
Kat has an MFA in Painting from Indiana University and a BA in Studio Art, Art History, and Spanish from Berea College. Through the CRE Rural Artist Residency Program, they recently completed residencies at Hypatia-in-the-Woods in Washington and Huntingburg, Indiana.
“I am interested in the possibility of porousness between self and other, and I translate the sensuousness of a presence into the paint: honey-like, rough, patterned, shimmering.”
“I reach for new, unimaginable colors that might constitute a secret language of energies, looks, and endocrine signals between subjects, like the flower’s ultraviolet flagging to the bee’s specially adapted vision.”
Their creative process begins with a compulsion to document and archive their everyday experiences through a robust daily journaling practice and taking smartphone videos and snapshots throughout the day.
“These become my source material for paintings, as I find myself drawn to certain memories that I can refer back to in my visual and written archives.”
Once they’ve chosen a memory as a subject for a painting, their process in terms of developing compositions and choosing color is pretty spontaneous.
They refer to visual references loosely and attempt to stay open, reacting and adjusting their decisions from one mark to the next.
“These paintings were born from two moments sitting in the cab of my partner’s car that bookended the autumn season of 2021. “
“Both paintings contain tensions around connection and distance, warmth and light, coolness and darkness.“
They live in Bloomington, Indiana, with their dog, Bernie, and recently graduated from an MFA Painting program at Indiana University Bloomington.
Over the summer, they will be looking for a new studio location. “I am at a turning point in my life and artistic career, and I’m excited to see what the next opportunity brings!”
- For more information on Kat Spears and their work visit their Website and Instagram!
- Also, to learn more about the Sharing Space exhibition and its artists visit our Sharing Space Page!
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