untitled (broken plane #3)
2006
Wood and acrylic paint
55” x 23” x 17”

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Kathleen Studebaker, Memphis, TN

kstudbkr@yahoo.com

Born in Memphis, TN 1982

Education:
2006, BFA from The University of Memphis (Suma Cum Laude)
-Concentration in sculpture

The idea that permeates my work, and my life in general, more than any other, is what modern society has titled “fantasy”. Fantasy could be defined, I think, as any depiction of a world that is truly different from our own. I read fantasy novels, watch fantasy movies. It is, in essence, a form of escapism. My desire to escape stems from the deep sense of dissatisfaction that I feel for the world as it actually is. Our world is an empty wasteland, carved from the most beautiful of materials. When I escape into my work, it is as if the rest of the world no longer exists. There is only me, the medium, the tools, and a purpose: To create, to mold them all together into something that until then, lived only in my mind.
Through sculpture, I attempt to create objects that belong somewhere else, in a world less flawed than our own. The forms are based on nothing (and everything), but are meant to convey a sort of innate, instinctual meaning. This meaning will be unique to each person who views them, created purely from the individual desires and fears that we all bring to everything we do, or see.
In painting, I can depict that other world itself, at least in part. I have never been good at telling stories through the use of language, but I wish to see the narratives that my mind has created; to bring them out of my head, and make them exist, in this world, with me. When I close my eyes, I can see and feel that place stretching out around me, a world where creativity is valued over greed. I know that I will never live there, so I will continue to create it, on a personal level, in whatever way that I can.