ARTIST STATEMENT
Bonnie Katz’s work is inspired by observing behaviors and characteristics of the animal world around her. Katz is an artist who works in creating mixed-media drawings and ceramics. Both mediums are in constant dialogue with each other. Charcoal drawings that explore movement through shape and texture inspire forms that are reinterpreted into soft clay slabs to build her ceramic sculptures.
Whether the piece is a drawing or an object, she starts with observational sketching of her subject matter – animals and plant life. She uses charcoal as her drawing material because it allows her to show movement and the character of her subjects, which include animals such as rabbits, dogs, and birds. She often creates graphic silhouettes and cuts them out to use as stencils. These cutout forms are applied to both two-dimensional and three-dimensional work.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Bonnie Katz is an artist and teacher within the Chicago arts community. Currently, she teaches at the Evanston Art Center, offering classes in children’s mixed media arts and adult ceramics and collage. She has previously taught at Loyola University and Columbia Colleges in Chicago, focusing on Foundations and Ceramics. Additionally, she has been an artist in-residence in various public and private schools. Katz has also collaborated with organizations such as Archi-Treasures in Chicago and Shanti, formerly in Evanston, teaching non-violence through the arts. Furthermore, she has participated in Highland Park High School’s Focus on the Arts and Stevenson High School’s Odyssey week-long programs, leading ceramic workshops for high school students.
Katz received her BFA from Washington University in St. Louis and an MFA from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, Alfred, New York.
© Bonnie J. Katz