STATEMENT
I explore material in response to my relationships with spaces and objects. Through the visual organization of memories and feelings, I create my own understanding of these relationships. Small objects are used as character stand-ins for the body, the feeling, the thing, and different combinations of these. In rearranging objects in space, I wrangle the intangible into something tactile. By contextualizing the work in familiarity, I use the almost to encourage the viewer to create their own understanding of the relationships situated within the work. I’m curious about the tension in moments of just before—just before everything perfect dissolves, or crumbles, or gets swept away. So I use a lot of methods to tack things down, to hold onto moments, and to also release my grip. I solidify emotions, often within the permanence of clay, though I acknowledge that an object will only ever go so far as to nudge these sharp memories back up into fleeting feelings, which are always quick to soften.
BIO
Katie McColgan is an American artist who lives and works in Boston, Massachusetts. She received her BFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 2016 and was a Post-Baccalaureate student at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville following. McColgan recently earned her MFA in Arts Practices at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Her work conceptually centers ideas of collecting, containment, and care and ranges across various mediums such as ceramics, painting, and fibers.