YOU CONNECT ARCHITECTURE, MATHEMATICS AND ART, WHERE DO THESE RAPPROCHEMENTS COME FROM ?

KATY: Growing up, I loved both mathematics and art. I was always drawing or giving myself some sort of project. Both of these interests supported my love of architecture and buildings. I enjoy taking the methodical approach I learned while studying mathematics to what I make in art. I’m pretty analytical, and look at what I make as sort of a research or exploration of architectural forms or mathematical ideas.

WHAT ARE YOUR ARTISTIC INTENTIONS WITH MURAL WORKS ?

KATY: I love to make the viewer feel immersed, that they’re not just looking at something on the wall, but seeing it as an extension of the space around them.

CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE MORE ABOUT THE ILLUSION OF DEPTH AND SPACE THAT YOU WANT TO CREATE WITH YOUR ART ?

KATY: I’m interested in how we interpret the environment around us, how we understand that we are living in a 3D space given depth and perception cues. I’m curious about how our eyes take in information, and understand that one object is further back in space. I like creating perspective points in pieces that are fixed – at times they will line up with the “actual” perspective your eyes are observing, but when you walk around the pieces, things start to look skewed and wonky. The fixed perspective point I created doesn’t “match” with reality as you walk around.

THE NOTION OF MOVEMENT IS REALLY IMPORTANT IN YOUR CREATION, DO YOU WANT TO TRANSPORT PEOPLE IN AN ANOTHER UNIVERSE ?

KATY: I’d love to open their curiosity about the space we inhabit and how we understand it. I’d like the murals to feel like they could walk through them and end up “somewhere else”. Similarly, I want them to feel like they could walk around inside of my “Fold” or “Catenary Skew” pieces, that there could be another world hidden inside of them.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH ARCHITECTURE ?

KATY: I like incorporating existing architectural elements into murals, or having them influence shapes or other thoughts on perspective. At one point I thought I would study it formally, but for now I’m content to use it as a curiosity point when making art.

WHERE DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF IN YOUR CAREER AND DO YOU HAVE EXCITING NEW PROJECT TO SHARE WITH US ?

KATY: It’s been about 6 years of making art since finishing gradschool, and each year I find my footing more and more. I always want to make sure that I’m learning and growing in what I’m making, and I feel I’ve been able to do that. I have some projects in the works for the year where I’ll be able to examine space / architecture via murals, along with regular studio work.

WHERE DO YOU IMAGINE YOURSELF PROFESSIONALLY IN TEN YEARS ?

KATY: I’d love to be working quite a bit in public pieces, perhaps ones that are more interactive and 3-dimensional. One idea I like considering is the contrast between minimal shapes, curves, and lines and a landscape (like I do when hiking, drawing, and then taking a photo of the drawing against the landscape). I’d love to be exploring those ideas on larger scale projects. I hope that in 10 years I can look back and see growth of ideas, skill, and concepts over the past decade.

WHAT ARE YOUR ARTISTIC REFERENCES ?

KATY: I really love Daniel Arsham and Phillip K. Smith III’s work. Both consider spaces as a whole and explore really interesting concepts that I respect.

DO YOU HAVE A PROJECT THAT YOU ARE PARTICULARLY PROUD OF AND WHICH, AT THIS STAGE OF YOUR CAREER IS YOUR REFERENCE WORK?

KATY: I have a few favorite projects, but one that people usually mention and that I find myself thinking about is a large interior mural I completed for Facebook (Playa Vista, CA) in 2017. The mural spans 100 ft, and I think I successfully played off the architectural features and corners of the space. When I’ve done that well, I’m most happy with a project.

WHAT WOULD BE THE PROJECT OF YOUR DREAMS ?

KATY: I’d love to do an outdoor piece that continues my thoughts on photos I take of drawings while on hikes – a piece that explores the relationship between sharp architectural lines and curves and the landscape.