Katelyn Patton

Nat in the Garden
gouache, thread and dye on canvas
18 x 18 in.

I continually feel conflicting ways about my work and my aesthetic and what it’s supposed to represent. It makes it hard to specify an overall meaning and intention that informs my practice. I’m struggling to exist in a world that demands definition and conclusions. When there is dissonance, the impulse is to resolve it. But what happens when we allow ourselves to exist in this liminal space? The tension and anxiety found in that space is what I want to explore.

In this work I utilize painting and embroidery techniques to create a complex relationship of textures and imagery within each piece. I draw heavily from my professional experiences in textile design, visual merchandising and window installations to create work that appears to be on trend with contemporary lifestyle brand culture, but is also a subtle subversion of those values when you look closer.

© Katelyn Patton