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KATE KRETZ

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KATE KRETZ

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Decades of Dreaming of You

Motherhood 2000-2019

For my interview with Susan Breen on the Mother Musing Blog: 

"It (motherhood) has changed my work tremendously. I am more fearless, and I think that the work has gotten stronger. Becoming a mother blows your heart wide open, it turns up the volume on all of your emotions and insights. Before I gave birth, I was making really personal work, practicing a kind of radical vulnerability as defiant act. I thought I was digging very deeply and being extremely brave. When I became pregnant, I realized that, previously, I had only been scratching the surface… nothing makes you more vulnerable than having a child, and I think that this rawness is entering my work. The first time I saw her wiggling on the sonogram, I suddenly had the sensation of having lived in a pitch-black room for all of my life, and opening the door to a light so bright that I felt certain it would kill me. Because my child is a daughter, the experience of parenthood has also made me a stronger feminist, which will soon manifest itself more extensively in my work...

Any woman who continues to make art while attending to the tasks of motherhood is a hero of epic proportions. Everything is already set up to marginalize women in the art world… add a child to the mix, and staying in the game becomes a superhuman feat. While art historians have always studied and noted the influence of travel, friends, and milieus on the work of male artists, the most profound and life-altering experience of all has been ignored in these discussions of creative inspiration, because it is an exclusively female phenomenon. Motherhood pushes your body to its visceral limits. It connects you to the earth, gives you a newfound understanding of the circle of life and death and other living beings, and gives you access to superhuman reserves of courage, empathy, and endurance. It turns up the volume, intensifying everything, and this heightened awareness can make you a much MORE powerful artist than you ever were before. It’s time that curators, critics, and collectors recognize the vast, untapped potential of art that represents one of our most powerful and essential experiences as human beings."

Motherhood 2000-2019

For my interview with Susan Breen on the Mother Musing Blog: 

"It (motherhood) has changed my work tremendously. I am more fearless, and I think that the work has gotten stronger. Becoming a mother blows your heart wide open, it turns up the volume on all of your emotions and insights. Before I gave birth, I was making really personal work, practicing a kind of radical vulnerability as defiant act. I thought I was digging very deeply and being extremely brave. When I became pregnant, I realized that, previously, I had only been scratching the surface… nothing makes you more vulnerable than having a child, and I think that this rawness is entering my work. The first time I saw her wiggling on the sonogram, I suddenly had the sensation of having lived in a pitch-black room for all of my life, and opening the door to a light so bright that I felt certain it would kill me. Because my child is a daughter, the experience of parenthood has also made me a stronger feminist, which will soon manifest itself more extensively in my work...

Any woman who continues to make art while attending to the tasks of motherhood is a hero of epic proportions. Everything is already set up to marginalize women in the art world… add a child to the mix, and staying in the game becomes a superhuman feat. While art historians have always studied and noted the influence of travel, friends, and milieus on the work of male artists, the most profound and life-altering experience of all has been ignored in these discussions of creative inspiration, because it is an exclusively female phenomenon. Motherhood pushes your body to its visceral limits. It connects you to the earth, gives you a newfound understanding of the circle of life and death and other living beings, and gives you access to superhuman reserves of courage, empathy, and endurance. It turns up the volume, intensifying everything, and this heightened awareness can make you a much MORE powerful artist than you ever were before. It’s time that curators, critics, and collectors recognize the vast, untapped potential of art that represents one of our most powerful and essential experiences as human beings."

Decades of Dreaming of You

Decades of Dreaming of You

2012, hair embroidery on mother's (artist's) hair from gestation period, thread from unraveled pillowcase, 3 x 5 x 5". Text reads "Decades of Dreaming of You". Nina Fuentes Collection, Miami.

Decades of Dreaming of You, detail

Decades of Dreaming of You, detail

egg made from unraveled pillowcases

Decades of Dreaming of You, detail

Decades of Dreaming of You, detail

Beauty of Your Breathing

Beauty of Your Breathing

 2013, mother's hair from gestation period embroidered on found dress, velvet, 20 x 25". Collection of the artist.

Your Fragility...

Your Fragility...

2010, mother's (artist's) hair from gestation period embroidered on child's garment, velvet, 14 x 15"

"You Fragility..." (detail)

"You Fragility..." (detail)

Emotional Labor Apron

Emotional Labor Apron

2019, hand embroidery on vintage apron, detailing one day of emotional labor. (working photo) Made with the assistance of Karl Lista.

Emotional Labor Apron, detail

Emotional Labor Apron, detail

2019, hand embroidery on vintage apron, detailing one day of emotional labor. (working photos) Made with the assistance of Karl Lista.

Heart Center

Heart Center

2009, hand dyed velvet, standard & 3D embroidery, batting, taffeta, convex glass, frame, 21" round x 3" deep. “Making the decision to have a child - it is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. ” - Elizabeth Stone
 

Heart Center, detail

Heart Center, detail

Art Marks

Art Marks

2009, blood on paper, sixty-three 5 x 7" matted pieces, made during the first year of my daughter's life. Art critic Jerry Cullum called this "one of the best art works I have seen in 2009" in his livejournal blog.

"Art Marks", installed (detail)

"Art Marks", installed (detail)

Stay.

Stay.

2010, 18" round, baby shoes, baby blankets, embroidery, convex glass, frame.

Stay., (detail)

Stay., (detail)

Memento Innocenti

Memento Innocenti

2011, tarnished silverpoint on found cup, 2.25 x 5 x 2.75"

Blessed Art Thou

Blessed Art Thou

2006, 88 x 60", oil & acrylic on linen

Blessed Art Thou (detail)

Blessed Art Thou (detail)

Blessed Art Thou (study)

Blessed Art Thou (study)

2006 - 2010, graphite and watercolor on velvet somerset paper, 88 x 60"

Blessed Art Thou installed at the Kunstraum Kreuzberg, Berlin

Blessed Art Thou installed at the Kunstraum Kreuzberg, Berlin

Fertilization Dress

Fertilization Dress

2000, double layer chiffon dress with satin appliqué, embroidery & fake pearls, size 6

Fertilization Dress, (detail)

Fertilization Dress, (detail)

Fertilization Dress, (detail)

Fertilization Dress, (detail)

Fertilization Purse

Fertilization Purse

2001, Functional purse, all hand sewn. Blue velvet, red satin, embroidery thread, fake pearls and purse frame with "snap" mechanism, 5 x 9 x 5"

Sacred Ovaries

Sacred Ovaries

2001, acrylic & oil on canvas, 70 x 42"

Sacred Ovaries (detail)

Sacred Ovaries (detail)

Woman With An Urgent Vocation (and a Master's Degree)

Woman With An Urgent Vocation (and a Master's Degree)

2010, gouache on paper, two 11 x 14" pieces, 11 x 32" overall

 

All Images are © Kate Kretz