Katie Cowden
BIO
Katie Cowden is a 4th generation Texan who was raised by an art teacher and a blacksmith, a self taught freelance artist, and passionate about sustainability. Her process begins with finding secondhand or scrap wood, goes through industrial grade laser cutters that she's used professionally for 14 years, and gets painted with tiny brushes intended for nail art.
STATEMENT
I work in what I consider to be mixed media fine art with a focus on sustainability in my supplies. My wooden materials are thrifted, scavenged from scrap bins and trash piles, or found at creative reuse centers. Most of the layered shapes are made on giant industrial lasers I’ve been using professionally for 12+ years, and I paint them with acrylics, and tiny paint brushes originally meant for nail art. The self taught style of my paintings is influenced by global folk art traditions, and years of historical costume design work, embroidery, and a former career as a preschool teacher. The focus on flora and fauna mirror the use of sustainability focused materials, showing how all life on earth is intertwined in our ecology systems. I take delight in the contrast of using industrial grade machinery, power tools, and beauty industry oriented brushes.
