I am interested in the way pictures form over time, how shadows change shape as leaves blow in the wind, and how we account for the experiential phenomena of such events.  I gather source material through extended studies of specific places and chance encounters with forms of dynamic light filtration, such as the alpenglow effect or light and shadows cast upon a sidewalk.  From the initial experience of viewing filtered light, I rely on a process of direct tracing and memory to construct artworks.  My family’s legacy of quilting informs my interest in material as a messenger for meaning.  I draw from the traditions of the Support/Surface movement, alternative photography, plein air painting, and textile craft.  

I calculate the balance between a translation of a fleeting experience and the materiality of the artwork.  The physical qualities of material convey atmospheric tone through the color, degree of transparency, and relationship between the painting liquids and the texture of the surface fibers.  I disregard distinctions between painting, drawing, and photography by using a brush to make marks with light sensitive materials and formally emphasize the space around the lines and shapes. The fabric is both a surface and a veil; both sides are painted.  I explore intimacy by playing with the tension between the inside and outside, and blurring the line between two and three dimensionality. The artworks serve as poetic reminders that paying attention to the space around us is rewarding and critical for understanding our natural reality.

Contact
katiemwestmoreland at gmail dot com
instagram @lightshapeshadowform

Biography
Born in Bryan, TX
Lives and works in Brooklyn, NY

Education

2018-19   NYC Crit Club
2012        University of Texas, BFA Studio Art

2012        Columbia University, Advanced Summer Painting Intensive

 

2019        Sky Island, Self-Imposed Collaborative Residency with Elizabeth Williams, Alpine, TX
2019        Art OMI Teaching Artists Retreat, Ghent, NY
2018        Imagine Arts Visiting Artist Fellowship, University of Rio Grande and Portsmouth High School, OH
2017        Gateway to the Wilderness Residency, Otto's Abode, Wanakena, NY
2015        Can Serrat Artist Residency, El Bruc, Barcelona, Spain
2012        College of Fine Arts Professional Development Travel Grant

Public Art
2019        Dappled Light, Shifting Shadows, Community Commission Mural, NYC Department of Transportation, Bronx, NY
2018        Frosted Flora, Portsmouth High School, Portsmouth, OH
2018        Oak Echo, Red Hook Interim Flood Projection Mural Project, NYC Mayor's Office, Brooklyn, NY
2017        Sift/Reflect, permanent installation, Gowanus Dredgers Club, Brooklyn, NY
2017        Razzle Dazzle Landscape, Mural on the rooftop of an art studio, Bronx, NY
2017        Forest to Beach, BLVD Mural Project, In Good Company Hospitality Group, Rockaway Beach, Queens, NY

Solo and Two Artist Exhibitions
2019        Reading the Rocks, with Elizabeth Williams, The Front Page, Austin, TX
2018        Light is Shape, Shadow is Form, Esther Allen Greer Museum, University of Rio Grande, OH 
2018        All I Can Remember is the Smell of This and the Hollow Sound of the Humidity, Wave Hill Sunroom Project Space, Bronx, NY 
2018        Many Layered Moments, with Michelle Zassenhaus, Gowanus Dredgers Club, Brooklyn, NY
2017        Visiting Landscapes, Otto's Abode, Wanakena, NY
2012        Katie M. Westmoreland, Flood Gallery, The University of Texas at Austin
2009        Katie M. Westmoreland, Art 979, Bryan, TX

Group Exhibitions
2019        Artist Co-op Exhibition, Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning, Queens, NY
2019        Two Silences Leaning Together, In/Passing, New York, NY
2019        Flash in the Pan, LoBo Gallery, Long Island City, NY
2019        Under the Magnifying Glass, Gallery Cubed, Brooklyn, NY
2019        Twist and Twine, Paradice Palase, Long Island City, NY
2019        In the Spirit, 68 Jay Street, Brooklyn, NY
2018        Art Gym, 840 Broadway, Brooklyn, NY
2018        Landscape Real and Imagined, Site: Brooklyn, Brooklyn, NY
2018        Earth Day, 313 Butler Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2017        Image as Object, Sotheby's Institute of Art, New York, NY
2017        Formerly Past Tense, Hello Studio, San Antonio, TX
2017        Gowanus Open Studios Exhibition, 313 Butler Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2017        Small Works, Trestle Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2017        Rover 2017, Starr Space Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2017        The Flower Show, Splendora Gardens, Cleveland, TX
2017        Spectacular Skies, Annmarie Sculpture Garden, Dowell, MD

2016        Material as Medium, The Target Gallery, Alexandria, VA

2011        Supper Club, Revolving Door Gallery, Austin, TX
2011        The Austin Series Part Two, Gallery Black Lagoon, Austin, TX
2011        June Showcase, Palm Door Gallery, Austin, TX

 

2015        The State of Art - Installation & Site Specific #2, Bare Hill Publishing

2015        Trek, Kind Aesthetic Quarterly, Spring