Kathleen Zimmerman
Artist Statement
"My art is the way I explore ideas concerning day-to-day life as well as more profound ideas surrounding relationships, stages of life and culture. It is a meditative practice that helps me stop and think about issues that are of interest to me. The act of creating forces me to slow down and think through an idea. As I work I find layers of meaning, both intentional and unintentional, become apparent. I create my work in series’, such as Cosmic Cow, Dance, East West and Space, so I can fully investigate each subject. Over the years I have developed a personal visual language that uses symbolism and surrealism to transform my subject matter into archetypal images giving my work a mythical quality filled with layers of meaning."
"While I use a variety of materials, the ideas are the driving force behind these visual statements not the materials. That is one reason why I use graphite in creating the originals. It is very expressive without taking over. I begin with graphite because there's an intimacy about a hand-drawn image, which I love … whatever I put down on the paper is what I get. It is a meditative experience and a real joy in being able to capture the creative act so purely. Julia Pavone, curator for the Alexey von Schlippe Gallery, described my drawings as follows, 'Kathleen's intricate, delicately layered graphite drawings each appear to come together to form the complex entity. As with life, each lovely drawing is made up of so many ethereal textures, shades and shapes that you want to look at more deeply to experience the emotions visually laid out before you.' Thank you, Julia. I use these drawings as the basis for my print work, which can be intaglio, chine colle', serigraphs, digital or wood block. The nice thing about printmaking is I can add contrast, color and sometimes texture, depending on the type of printmaking method, while still retaining the essence of the drawings. I don't want my drawings to become painitngs or to rely on 'happy accidents' to make them interesting. I use technology in an intentional manner to enhance the original thought not to get away from it." Kathleen Zimmerman
"My art is the way I explore ideas concerning day-to-day life as well as more profound ideas surrounding relationships, stages of life and culture. It is a meditative practice that helps me stop and think about issues that are of interest to me. The act of creating forces me to slow down and think through an idea. As I work I find layers of meaning, both intentional and unintentional, become apparent. I create my work in series’, such as Cosmic Cow, Dance, East West and Space, so I can fully investigate each subject. Over the years I have developed a personal visual language that uses symbolism and surrealism to transform my subject matter into archetypal images giving my work a mythical quality filled with layers of meaning."
"While I use a variety of materials, the ideas are the driving force behind these visual statements not the materials. That is one reason why I use graphite in creating the originals. It is very expressive without taking over. I begin with graphite because there's an intimacy about a hand-drawn image, which I love … whatever I put down on the paper is what I get. It is a meditative experience and a real joy in being able to capture the creative act so purely. Julia Pavone, curator for the Alexey von Schlippe Gallery, described my drawings as follows, 'Kathleen's intricate, delicately layered graphite drawings each appear to come together to form the complex entity. As with life, each lovely drawing is made up of so many ethereal textures, shades and shapes that you want to look at more deeply to experience the emotions visually laid out before you.' Thank you, Julia. I use these drawings as the basis for my print work, which can be intaglio, chine colle', serigraphs, digital or wood block. The nice thing about printmaking is I can add contrast, color and sometimes texture, depending on the type of printmaking method, while still retaining the essence of the drawings. I don't want my drawings to become painitngs or to rely on 'happy accidents' to make them interesting. I use technology in an intentional manner to enhance the original thought not to get away from it." Kathleen Zimmerman
