Here is the second installment of our monthly interview series with Red Dot artists. This month, we take a look inside the world of digital media artist, Kathy Casey. To learn more about Kathy Casey's work, visit her website.
1. Your pieces have so many layers and so much texture. Where does the texture come from? What inspires you in your choice of imagery?
I just love texture. Don't know where it comes from. I love the look of telephone poles covered with thousands of stapled flyers in various stages of disintegration. I love peeling paint and the surface of stucco. I love really bumpy knit sweaters I even love texture in my food. I like Madrona trees because the bark peels off like old paint. I guess part of it is the revelation of what lies underneath or what has been before. It weathers and disappears eventually. That process of disintegration is melancholy but that is the process with which we live daily.
As far as inspiration it comes from everywhere. In art school Chagall was a favorite. His world was just magical to me, I also greatly admired Picasso, so inventive, a huge visual vocabulary but quite a jerk of a human being. Gaudi, the Spanish architect because he's so fanciful. I liked the old masters, Raphael, that angel of draftsmanship and Caravaggio, partly because he was a rather sinister fellow and Hans Holbein, painter of kings, so rich and opulent. Lots to love in those Dutch painters, of course, Vermeer who is sheer visual poetry. The American abstract expressionists are fascinating because of they embodied an artistic revolution and had so much energy and audacity.
1. Your pieces have so many layers and so much texture. Where does the texture come from? What inspires you in your choice of imagery?
I just love texture. Don't know where it comes from. I love the look of telephone poles covered with thousands of stapled flyers in various stages of disintegration. I love peeling paint and the surface of stucco. I love really bumpy knit sweaters I even love texture in my food. I like Madrona trees because the bark peels off like old paint. I guess part of it is the revelation of what lies underneath or what has been before. It weathers and disappears eventually. That process of disintegration is melancholy but that is the process with which we live daily.
As far as inspiration it comes from everywhere. In art school Chagall was a favorite. His world was just magical to me, I also greatly admired Picasso, so inventive, a huge visual vocabulary but quite a jerk of a human being. Gaudi, the Spanish architect because he's so fanciful. I liked the old masters, Raphael, that angel of draftsmanship and Caravaggio, partly because he was a rather sinister fellow and Hans Holbein, painter of kings, so rich and opulent. Lots to love in those Dutch painters, of course, Vermeer who is sheer visual poetry. The American abstract expressionists are fascinating because of they embodied an artistic revolution and had so much energy and audacity.
In daily life I always have my eyes peeled. I might see something on TV and think that color combination might be interesting to explore. I love poetry in part because of an appreciation of poets ability to conjure an image verbally. A poem might spark an idea. I am influenced by folk art and so called "tribal art" from all over the world but especially from Africa, amazing textiles produced there. The Quilts of Gee's bend. Those ladies down there
in Alabama make some of the most extraordinary pieces of modern art I have ever seen.
I used to be inspired more by the world of nature (flowers etc.) and still am to an extent but I am finding the human-made world fascinating lately, especially big machines and bridges. Other inspirations for imagery come from buildings. I am intrigued by the light of the windows of skyscrapers at night. Each one has a different quality depending on which lights have been left on. I am also intrigued by aerial views of cities. Love that gridded structure. I became intrigued by the Steel Bridge this summer. The structure is so layered and it needs painting desperately but I took lots of pictures of it this summer and that peeling paint, well...and just to the north there is that fascinating series of grain elevators. There is so much complex shadow-play going on in that thing.
History and current events are also a source of curiosity and commentary in my work.
in Alabama make some of the most extraordinary pieces of modern art I have ever seen.
I used to be inspired more by the world of nature (flowers etc.) and still am to an extent but I am finding the human-made world fascinating lately, especially big machines and bridges. Other inspirations for imagery come from buildings. I am intrigued by the light of the windows of skyscrapers at night. Each one has a different quality depending on which lights have been left on. I am also intrigued by aerial views of cities. Love that gridded structure. I became intrigued by the Steel Bridge this summer. The structure is so layered and it needs painting desperately but I took lots of pictures of it this summer and that peeling paint, well...and just to the north there is that fascinating series of grain elevators. There is so much complex shadow-play going on in that thing.
History and current events are also a source of curiosity and commentary in my work.
2. How has your art evolved? Have you always worked in the digital space?
I've been doing art for a long, long time. My degree is in traditional painting. When I was in school I loved Georgia O'Keefe and her floral closeups. They were so mysterious and compelling and very abstract. A lot of people say they have a sexual connotation. I don't know except that flowers are there for the reproduction of the species so... She was an early influence. I used to do a lot of very abstract floral images. I liked the idea of using imagery from nature but restructuring it to make it unrecognizable and mysterious; something that evoked rather than represented the original image.
I've always loved texture and am continually intrigued by color. That has stayed with me as I have moved into working digitally, I love the colors you get on the computer. I got involved with computers in the early '90's. In the "old days" I used to work on a machine that wouldn't show color while you worked. Took up too much memory. Arghh! Adobe Illustrator was the first program I learned, so only flat colors in those days. When I discovered Photoshop and got a machine that would process color as I worked it was a revelation! I made the decision to go "all digital" sometime in the late 90's and have never looked back. I love using technology. I love the challenge of learning what the programs can do, what they can't do and how to coax them to my bidding if they don't quite do what I need. It provides constant learning and really can produce magical results.
I've been doing art for a long, long time. My degree is in traditional painting. When I was in school I loved Georgia O'Keefe and her floral closeups. They were so mysterious and compelling and very abstract. A lot of people say they have a sexual connotation. I don't know except that flowers are there for the reproduction of the species so... She was an early influence. I used to do a lot of very abstract floral images. I liked the idea of using imagery from nature but restructuring it to make it unrecognizable and mysterious; something that evoked rather than represented the original image.
I've always loved texture and am continually intrigued by color. That has stayed with me as I have moved into working digitally, I love the colors you get on the computer. I got involved with computers in the early '90's. In the "old days" I used to work on a machine that wouldn't show color while you worked. Took up too much memory. Arghh! Adobe Illustrator was the first program I learned, so only flat colors in those days. When I discovered Photoshop and got a machine that would process color as I worked it was a revelation! I made the decision to go "all digital" sometime in the late 90's and have never looked back. I love using technology. I love the challenge of learning what the programs can do, what they can't do and how to coax them to my bidding if they don't quite do what I need. It provides constant learning and really can produce magical results.
3. How do you approach a piece? Walk us through your process.
I start with the format. I love working in a square. That beautiful rhomboid. I love the calm symmetry of a square, it's sleeping, inert until I get to mess with its insides. I then usually create a grid for structure. (This is something from my graphic design background). Since I work so abstractly it helps to organize the composition. I think often about the golden mean within the composition and make efforts to structure things at times with that in mind. I then determine the color palette and start painting in Photoshop. I have made hundreds of brushes with the brush feature in the program and I play with the parameters of the brushes for different effects. I also use the pattern maker feature and adjustment layers and masks and just start to lay in the elements. One of the great features of the layer mask is that you can "erase" without destroying the original content so if I change my mind I can come back to where I was if need be. I will also play with reordering the layers in the file and sometimes a happy accident happens with that little function.
Lately I have been incorporating photographs into the work. I like to take a color photo and use the Threshold feature to turn it into a flat black and white image. I like the gritty quality this creates as well as the abstraction that occurs with a realistic image.
4. Why do you choose to work in your medium? What do you like about your medium?
I like the challenge of software. Understanding what I can do and what I might be able to make it do. As I mentioned above I love the color I get on the computer. RGB color is so vivid and vibrant and I am finding that the prints that are made these days really reflect what you get on the monitor to a very large extent. I also love that I can incorporate digital photography into my work and manipulate it so that it becomes very abstract. It allows me to challenge visual perception in ways that I don't think I would have thought about without using the computer.
I start with the format. I love working in a square. That beautiful rhomboid. I love the calm symmetry of a square, it's sleeping, inert until I get to mess with its insides. I then usually create a grid for structure. (This is something from my graphic design background). Since I work so abstractly it helps to organize the composition. I think often about the golden mean within the composition and make efforts to structure things at times with that in mind. I then determine the color palette and start painting in Photoshop. I have made hundreds of brushes with the brush feature in the program and I play with the parameters of the brushes for different effects. I also use the pattern maker feature and adjustment layers and masks and just start to lay in the elements. One of the great features of the layer mask is that you can "erase" without destroying the original content so if I change my mind I can come back to where I was if need be. I will also play with reordering the layers in the file and sometimes a happy accident happens with that little function.
Lately I have been incorporating photographs into the work. I like to take a color photo and use the Threshold feature to turn it into a flat black and white image. I like the gritty quality this creates as well as the abstraction that occurs with a realistic image.
4. Why do you choose to work in your medium? What do you like about your medium?
I like the challenge of software. Understanding what I can do and what I might be able to make it do. As I mentioned above I love the color I get on the computer. RGB color is so vivid and vibrant and I am finding that the prints that are made these days really reflect what you get on the monitor to a very large extent. I also love that I can incorporate digital photography into my work and manipulate it so that it becomes very abstract. It allows me to challenge visual perception in ways that I don't think I would have thought about without using the computer.
5. What do you like most about being an artist?
My traditional training in art school taught me to really understand how to see in a critical fashion. I love noticing negative space and details that the untrained eye might miss. I am grateful for having taken Art History. That is a resource that I draw on all the time. I am fortunate
that I have been able to make a living as an artist without having to become a sous chef. I am always learning.
6. What do you dislike about being an artist?
It's not fun when you get stuck. You know, artist's block. I hate that. It's hard trying to market the work outside of the graphic design business. Sometimes I wish I had a skill like nursing (always in demand) but my Mom was a nurse and it's a hard job. I would have been terrible at it.
7. What does a general day look like?
I am usually working by 8:00-8:30 either on the graphic design or the paintings. I try to keep a regular schedule. But I don't know that I have a "typical" day. I take lots of classes too just because I like to learn new things and challenge myself so those impinge on my time in a good way.
8. What are your artistic goals for the next year?
I will continue to explore painting digitally but I am also branching out to other avenues of expression. I have gotten very interested in poetry in the last few months and have taken several classes and I am going to continue to explore theatre and acting which was my first major in college. Performing is a great experience because it is collaborative and social.
To learn more about Kathy Casey's work, visit her website.
My traditional training in art school taught me to really understand how to see in a critical fashion. I love noticing negative space and details that the untrained eye might miss. I am grateful for having taken Art History. That is a resource that I draw on all the time. I am fortunate
that I have been able to make a living as an artist without having to become a sous chef. I am always learning.
6. What do you dislike about being an artist?
It's not fun when you get stuck. You know, artist's block. I hate that. It's hard trying to market the work outside of the graphic design business. Sometimes I wish I had a skill like nursing (always in demand) but my Mom was a nurse and it's a hard job. I would have been terrible at it.
7. What does a general day look like?
I am usually working by 8:00-8:30 either on the graphic design or the paintings. I try to keep a regular schedule. But I don't know that I have a "typical" day. I take lots of classes too just because I like to learn new things and challenge myself so those impinge on my time in a good way.
8. What are your artistic goals for the next year?
I will continue to explore painting digitally but I am also branching out to other avenues of expression. I have gotten very interested in poetry in the last few months and have taken several classes and I am going to continue to explore theatre and acting which was my first major in college. Performing is a great experience because it is collaborative and social.
To learn more about Kathy Casey's work, visit her website.