Kathryn Hart
Statement
“A painting with heart should come from the gut, expose a piece of the artist in a very raw way. I am guided by feeling, not a specific image in my head.”
I express myself emotionally through shape, color and texture. My works are expressions of the human condition, all of its emotional crags and crevices, what we want others to see and what we hide…who we are when we are alone.
I like seeing the evolution of the idea through the painter’s mark. I love paint…to smush it around and discover possibilities, take risks and delve into unknown territory… everything is driven the big idea. I strive to be fearless in the process and quiet my inner critic until enough energy is on the canvas or paper. There is a critical moment, like stepping over a line, when a painting becomes its own entity. Once that happens, I know I have something.
I like the freedom of expressing myself without the linear construct of words. Others can put words to it if they find that necessary.”
Profile and Biography
Emotional content and conflict are pervasive in Kathryn Hart’s work. Submerging and discovering…ambiguous space…the push and pull within the painting or shape mirrors the human experience. Paintings pulse with an underlying agenda…a story untold. Scrapings and scratchings dragged through thick paint give glimpse of the richness below the surface and Hart’s commitment to an emotional expression that is honest and authentic.
Combining both expressionism and conceptual art into her paintings, Hart begins boldly and energetically, focusing on nuance and sensitivity in the latter stages. Hart’s delight in the creative sojourn is evident…a gestalt of feeling, idea and energy emoting onto the canvas. The heart of the work is deeply personal and emotional. Bold shapes, limited palette and surface texture result in paintings brimming with elegance, grit and power. Figurative work plays between shallow and flat space; figures are often embedded into the same spatial plane as other shapes. Subjects seem to be in the process of emerging out of their surrounding, embraced by them or locked into them.
After quickly establishing a national reputation as an award-winning, representational painter, Kathryn turned to highly abstracted work and conceptual-based painting. Major influences include Bay Area Expressionists (figurative & abstract), Rothko, deKooning, Pollock and Degas. Kathryn has studied with William Lawrence since 2006 and other select master painters around the globe.
Kathryn Hart’s paintings have been exhibited in solo and group invitational exhibitions across the country and are regularly included in juried shows. Emerging as a nationally acknowledged contemporary painter, Hart’s awards include Best of Show (2010) and the Bronze award (2008) from the Colorado State Exhibition which hung in Colorado History Museum, 1st prize from the American Juried Art Salon in 2006, Best of Show 3 years running from the Colorado Springs Art Guild and other top awards from coast to coast. Ms. Hart is a signature member of the prestigious National Watercolor Society and many other notable organizations of achievement. View more of her work at www.kathryndhart.com. Ms. Hart currently resides in Larkspur, Colorado with her husband, Dennis, and their 3 cats — Oliver, Masai and Rishi.
