Contact: kathleenskeels@gmail.com

All images and content copyright Kathleen Skeels 2010

RESUME

EXHIBITIONS: “Upside Down Time”, Upcoming solo exhibition at the Helen Smith Gallery, Green River Community College, Auburn WA., Sept.-Oct., 2011. “No Touching”, Solo exhibit of ceramic sculptures and mural drawings, Canoe Gallery, Seattle, WA., March-April, 2010. Exhibition, Purser Art Gallery, Bellevue College, Bellevue Wa., Jan.-Feb., 2010 “The Nature of Growth”: An Invitational Exhibition with Symposium Presentation, Purser Art Gallery, Bellevue College, Bellevue Wa.,Feb.-Mar., 2008. “Red”: Ceramic exhibition curated and juried by Richard Notkin. Baltimore Clay Works, Baltimore, Md., Oct.,-Nov., 2007. “Starbrick Clay National 2006”, A national juried exhibition of contemporary ceramic art. Curated by Chris Staley. Nelsonville, OH., Feb.,-Mar., 2006. “Skin Deep”, A national juried exhibition celebrating the variety of ceramic surfaces, curated by Val Cushing. Francis Marion University, Florence, SC., Jan.,-Apr., 2006 “Feats of Clay”, Lincoln Arts Center, Lincoln, Ca., Apr.,-May, 2005. 7th Annual Art Port Townsend, “Expressions Northwest”, Northwind Arts Center, Port Townsend, WA., Oct., 2005 “Gigantic Ceramic Figurines”, Kirkland Arts Center, Feb.,-Apr., 2004 “Self Portrait”, Biennial Competition, Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma WA., March-May, 1993 EDUCATION: Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting, University of Washington, 1976 Workshops: Mary Jo Bole and Jean Pierre La Roche, Seward Park Clay Studio, Seattle, WA., 2006 ASSOCIATION: Designer Craftsmen Association, 2009 file://localhost/Users/Kathleen/Desktop/KathleenSkeelsResume.pages/

ARTIST STATEMENT

  For me, my art is an alternate world.  It is a place of possibility and discovery where I am at my most capable and where the rules are of my own making.


Drawing is basic to my art, drawing in black and white and color.  It’s play.  It’s memory.  It’s a refuge.  On another level, it serves as a tool for examining the world directly, and for thinking through ideas and projects.


I use clay for sculpting, as well as for a ground for drawing and painting.  It is a versatile and challenging material.  Porcelain’s fine texture is perfect for small sculptures and complex drawings.  Colors are at their most brilliant on top of porcelain.  A heavy duty stoneware clay works well for creating my large scale sculptures.


I also sculpt the human figure in clay at life-size.  These pieces are as true to the model as I can make them, the better to take in the form and learn from it.  I consider these pieces as a cross between studies and attempts to stop time.  They often become the starting point for my other sculptures which are not from life and not realistic. 


My artwork is eclectic.  I do not accept the notion that an artist must limit their work to one scale, material, or dimension.  I use whatever I need at the moment, whatever is my pleasure: color and tone, 2D and 3D, giant and tiny.  Often opposites attract, for example a sculptural volume that flattens into a drawing, going from 3D to 2D and back to 3D again, or a twice life sized figure that contains a miniature world.    


I design and construct gardens as well, sometimes using my ceramics to create the hardscape.  Gardens take time to experience and time to develop.  Gardens are space sculpted by form, form made of a composition of hardscape and nature, that can only be experienced through movement and time.


These are the three art mediums I work with: drawing, sculpture, and space.

Sculpture LargeSCULPTURE_LARGE.html
Sculpture MediumSCULPTURE_MEDIUM.html
Sculpture SmallSCULPTURE_SMALL.html
MajolicaMAJOLICA.html
DrawingsDRAWINGS.html

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InstallationsINSTALLATIONS.html