Artist Statement
The sensations of the world felt both physically and emotionally push me towards creation. I aspire to express my interactions through common materials. Oil, pigment and canvas are materials many artists have moved beyond, but I feel that they can be used elastically like language. With color and texture, I play on an open, flat field. I want to translate and organize my learned knowledge of art making, as well as destroy and challenge my practice with instinct and intuition. The elements I take on are used as tools to empty my experiences into the painting. In order to express my situation, I cannot directly imitate nature and life, I need to absorb my surroundings and translate them into the basic problems of colors, textures and forms. These paintings have sources from observations and felt experience, but the tension between figural and abstract tendencies needs its individual significance, because no matter the source, these paintings are at their essence about painting.

Biography
Kate received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Chicago in Visual Arts in 2007. In addition to painting, Kate also collects vintage clothing and redesigns them into modern looks (http://katemdot.etsy.com). For more information, feel free to contact Kate at kmblomquist@gmail.com.