Kathryn Blommel is currently based in Minneapolis, MN, where she attends the University of Minnesota studying fine art. Her art engages with notions of feminism that depict feminine adolescence and the entanglement of landscape and body. Her work has been included in exhibitions at Gamut Gallery, Soo Visual Arts Center, and the Quarter Gallery at the University of Minnesota. In 2022, her informative essay, "The Perpetual Cycle of Misogyny", was published alongside her art in the Yale Journal of Art and Art History. Her practice has been supported through grants and scholarships from the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation, The McKnight Foundation, the National Society of Arts and Letters, the Central Minnesota Arts Board, and the University of Minnesota.
Statement
I primarily work with charcoal and graphite to create surreal imagery centered around the female form. The images I depict are often expansive and dramatic, evoking an overpowering sense of weight within a landscape. The weight carried throughout the work serves as a metaphor for the complexities of feminine identity, while the figure serves as a sanctuary for human emotion. I fabricate these environments to understand the connection of space and its relationship to how women’s social identities are structured.
Drawing on personal experiences, my work addresses the challenges that coincide with adolescence by utilizing memory as a form of recollection and marker of growth. These memories, along with the relationships that have shaped my identity, help forge a place for my identity to evolve. At the core of my work are sincere and introspective moments, representing women not just as objects of visual delectation, but as embodiments of the experiences that shape their identity.