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HOCUS FOCUS

by Kathleen Kastles

April 18th to July 5th

Website – https://www.kathleenkastles.com/

Click here to view a video interview with Kathleen Kastles.

Born and raised in Denver, Colorado, Kathleen Kastles’ quilts pull together several life threads. Her sewing career commenced at age six when a woman gave her a bag of fabric scraps and asked Kathleen if she’d like to make doll clothes from them. Kathleen went on to sew clothes and much more. After earning a B.A. from Colorado State University with a major in painting, she pursued a career in art photography. Later she continued her formal education and earned a Psy.D. degree from the University of Denver and became a psychologist. Upon retirement, Kathleen and her husband moved to Maui to be near her son and his family.

Kathleen’s quilts reflect many interests, including people and nature, as well as color, line, and the tactile nature of fibers. Her work today is representational, but with clear inspiration from Abstract Expressionism. As Kathleen explains,

When I was in art school, Abstract Expressionism was in vogue. To my dismay, my family insisted on seeing things in my abstract paintings—“No, look—I see a face here, and a dog, there!” They were relieved when I painted realistically. Today I am honoring that family history while satisfying my need to continue to evolve as an artist. So instead of rendering my subjects realistically, I might push the classical parameters of portraiture. In New Work, you will still see people, as long as you don’t stand too close to the quilts in a gallery (it will be easier to see the subject matter online). You might be distracted by the close cropping, the introduction of fanciful shapes and colors, and the abstraction of elements of the human form, and fail to see the figures at all. Or they might be paintings of incomplete faces, figures, or only body parts. Another important aspect of this most recent work is emotional intensity, conveyed through various tones, shades, and juxtapositions of color hues and values.

In Hocus Focus, Kathleen looks at people and places with an abstraction that manages to drill down to the concrete and the tangible. The faces evoke topographical maps, with mesas for cheeks and ridges for noses. The eyes and mouths beckon like valleys of color with an almost liquid appearance. The works ask us to stand close, in the shadows of the quilts themselves, to hear a story. If you’re able, stand back from the screen as you view these works online. From a distance, they come alive in a whole new way.

Kathleen’s work has been exhibited in Australia, Canada, China, England, South Africa, and the United States. She has received numerous awards and has authored articles in leading publications. Her work is featured in multiple exhibition catalogs. For more information, please visit her website. She is a Studio Art Quilt Association Professional Artist Member and also a member of the Surface Design Association.

Meet the Artist: Kathleen Kastles

Would you like to hear more from the artists? Click here for a Q + A with the artist about her inspirations, her studio, and how she’s coping with COVID-19.

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