Artist Statement & Bio

Artist Statement

I have always used ink in my work. I adore the permanence, the risk, the pure blackness that comes with it. I have so much anxiety making decisions in my work, so it’s nice that with ink it does the decision making for me. Watercolor is the same way. For this piece, too, I used a metallic gold to contrast the flatness of black and white. These three works are different tarot cards, aligned into a three-card spread all in the upright. Tarot has always had a unique place in my heart. It is hated in my home, but I adore it. I use the taboo tarot cards in a spread that is hopeful. It’s juxtaposition! To run down the cards in this series in the order in which they are read; The Devil is a card that represents what binds you and inhibits your success, Death is a symbol for change, and The Fool is a new beginning. In short, I wanted to design a reading where the message conveyed is “No matter what you’re going through or have gone through, whether it be toxic people or behavior, the change will be on the nearby horizon if it hasn’t started already and it will ultimately lead to a fresh start.” I only used major arcana, too, because this is definite. Not a minor event in the day to day, rather a major life event that is destined to be in your life journey.

Artist Bios

SHORT BIO

            Katharine Grace was born in Fullerton, California, and stayed in southern California for most of her life. Her work is mostly inspired by her own interest in surrealism accompanied by her fascination with bending reality while using psychology, her main area of study, as a muse or baseline. Her work is visible on the Instagram page @doodlekxtt.

LONG BIO

            Katharine Grace was born in Fullerton, California. She is a psychology and art student at Chapman University, and is a year away from obtaining her degree. She had one of her works on display during a student showcase in the fall, and once in her childhood at the OC Fair. She’s drawn her whole life, pulling inspiration from the cartoons she watched growing up and her love for surrealism. She studies psychology and wants to end up either in private practice or as a school psychologist. Katharine’s love of the human mind inspires her work as well, motivating her to push the boundaries and playing on different psychological conditions or using them as inspiration for work. She doesn’t just pull from a textbook; she also pulls from her own life. Art is Katharine’s therapy, thus a lot of her work is a vent session. The tables turn and it’s the viewer’s turn to unpack what the therapist is thinking. Katharine is a mediocre musician and a barista, and she still lives in southern California while she finishes her education.