KATY HORANBIO Katy Horan was born in Houston, Texas, and received a B.F.A. from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2003. She received the Artist Rep Services Grant from Rolf Contemporary Gallery and was awarded the Vermont Studio CenterÕs Full Month Painting Residency, both in 2009. In 2010, she was the Selected Artist through the Studio Visit Program of Arthouse at the Jones Center, the New American Paintings Western Competition Winner, and the Third Coast National Selected Artist at K Space Contemporary. She has exhibited her work throughout Texas and in Toronto, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York, with solo shows in Oakland, Austin, San Jose, and Milwaukee. Katy currently lives in Austin. STATEMENT My work examines female roles and representation found throughout history, art and mythology. I pull from a variety of sources, using mixed references and visual fragments to build new variations of familiar figures. My hope is that the image will be at once identifiable and ambiguous, inviting the viewerÕs own imagination and past experiences to inform their interpretation.
Research plays a large role in my work. I derive visual reference and ideas from film, literature, the Internet and countless other sources. I then filter and combine fragments of imagery and information absorbed from this research through an intuitive process. This allows me to explore subject matter and interests that range from Victorian spinsterhood to Renaissance portraiture to the archetypal witch figure. I also work to incorporate imagery from the books and movies that affected me as a child. By working organically, and moving between repetitive detail and loose experimentation, I am able to bring these varied sources together as singular characters.
Form, detail and gesture are also important aspects of my work. Solitary figures allow more focus on their interior structure and detail, which I intend to hold as much interest as the character itself. Historical costume has long interested me, and I use these inner details to reference varied eras of dress and decoration. Similarly, I use my characterÕs postures and gesture to explore those found in art history and illustration. While external research informs each pieceÕs narrative and concept, emphasis on form, detail and gesture inform its execution.
PRESS KATY HORAN, High Fructose Magazine 1/10/2011
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