Kathy King
Kathy King’s narrative vessels, tiled furniture and printmaking, either presented individually, or combined in installation, present narratives from a feminist point of view. Her ultimate objective is to translate her own experience, specifically as a contemporary woman, in relation to social culture dealing with such issues as sexual orientation, reproduction and issues of the body and gender. Her imagery, reminiscent of an underground comic book style, uses satirical humor, irony and sarcasm to map her journey from pubescence to menopause.
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Kathy King at MudFire
Kathy King solo show, July 2011
Gallery group show Mug*Shots, August 2009
Gallery group show American Masters, May 2008
Workshop presenter Photo/Graphic Imaging On Clay, August 2007
Gallery group show Teapots A-Go-Go, April 2006
Workshop presenter I Heart Surface, October 2004
Kathy King Artist Bio
King is currently an active studio artist in the Boston area and is an Instructor and the Assistant to the Acting Director at the Ceramics Program - Office for the Arts at Harvard in Allston, MA and was most recently a Visiting Faculty at Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, RI and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, MA. She held the position of Associate Professor at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia until 2007. Her undergraduate work included the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, MA and she received her BA in Studio Art with a major in Ceramics from Connecticut College, New London, CT in 1990. She received her MFA from University of Florida in Gainesville, FL in 1998. She has given workshops and lectures at over fifty colleges, schools and art centers throughout the USA.
Her narrative vessels, tiled furniture and printmaking, either presented individually, or combined in installation, present narratives from a feminist point of view. Her ultimate objective is to translate her own experience, specifically as a contemporary woman, in relation to social culture dealing with such issues as sexual orientation, reproduction and issues of the body and gender. Her imagery, reminiscent of an underground comic book style, uses satirical humor, irony and sarcasm to map her journey from pubescence to menopause.
Her exhibition record includes solo shows at MudFire Gallery in Atlanta, GA, The Erie Museum of Art, Erie, PA, McMaster Gallery - University of South Carolina, Columbus, SC, University of West Georgia, Carrolton, GA and Spacelab in Cleveland, OH. Group exhibitions include SOFA, Chicago, IL (Ferrin Gallery and Santa Fe Clay Gallery), World Ceramic Exposition, Yoju, Korea, Blue Spiral Gallery, Asheville, NC, Mint Museum of Craft and Design, Charlotte, NC, Santa Fe Clay Gallery, Santa Fe, NM, Baltimore Clayworks, Baltimore, MD and Signature Shop and Gallery, Atlanta, GA. She was featured as both an Emerging Artist in 1999 and a Demonstrator in 2002 at the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts conferences.
Her work has been featured in Confrontational Ceramics by Judith Schwartz, Sex Pots by Paul Mathieu, The Art of Contemporary American Pottery by Kevin A. Hulch, 200 Plates and Chargers by Lark Books, Teapots Transformed by Leslie Ferrin and Handbuilt Tableware by Kathy Triplett. Her work can also be found in numerous periodicals including Ceramics: Art and Perception, Studio Potter, Clay Times, Art Papers and Ceramics Monthly.
Kathy King Artist Statement
From childhood onward, human beings are taught to surround themselves with substances to consume and adorn themselves with. The need arose to create containers that not only provided a function but also amplified the experience of the user. From the Greek Attic Vase to the 20th century novelty coffee mug, much about the societies that produced them can be read from the images on the pots. Our ability to reference the ceramic object through the functional use, decorative beauty, or historical placement, confers strength upon ceramics as a powerful vehicle for commenting on contemporary, cultural issues.
In my work I use ceramic vessels, tiled furniture and printmaking, either separately or combined in installations, which present narratives from a woman's point of view. My ideas are influenced by personal experience, and I often use myself as a character in the work. This presentation of personal narrative on ceramics through satirical humor, irony and sarcasm allows me to both celebrate and poke fun at my gender as well as myself. The combination of narrative presented on the surface, united with the contents or each vessel, allow a dialogue between function and narrative. Though each pot's narrative may contain the equivalent of a one-line joke, when the pieces are considered together they convey a singular theme in a serial format.
I am interested in mapping the ways that popular culture - including comic books, magazines, television shows, films, and a host of other forms help to shape and change how our culture views women. Popular culture does not simply reflect women's lives; it helps to create them and so demands critical scrutiny. My ultimate objective is to translate my own personal experience in relation to my culture, through narrative imagery on the utilitarian ceramic form. When I present these works in an installation, the stage is then set for my own epic tale of the struggles of mortals within our society. Though the urgency of these issues may range anywhere between morality to finding the right brand of cellulite cream, collectively, the human experience is recorded, as told through the voice of one woman.
