Kathryn Polk
Not unlike my life, my art has taken many different directions. I have an incessant need to draw the figure. Accordingly, my art is always figurative, whether it is stylized or a literal interpretation of the figure. I sketch from memory as well as from live models.
In my prints, I explore content through personal narrative and metaphor. I appreciate printmaking for its simple graphic appeal, which I feel communicates more readily to the viewer. I believe the physicality of creating a print informs the work. Whether I am carving my image out of a piece of wood or drawing on a litho stone, printmaking allows my work to be more tactile and intuitive.
The content of my narrative prints represents my personal response to what is happening in the world. Usually humor is my vehicle for speaking to universal experiences: alienation, survival, subjection and sacrifice. The truth about what is happening in the world seems too overwhelming. The imperfections in my prints create a sense of both primitiveness and awkwardness that to me is an honest depiction of life.
