The Visual Arts Program at Northwestern Oklahoma State University is excited to announce our April Artist-in-Residence, Kerry Cottle. Kerry was born in Houston, TX. She has spent a majority of her life in Northern California and currently lives and works in Sacramento, CA. She received both her B.A. and M.A. in Studio Art from California State University.
About her work, Kerry states:
“I am influenced by the work of Agnes Martin, Kazimir Malevich, Emma Kunz, Hilma af Klint, Paul Klee, and Pavel Filonov amongst others. Abstraction in painting, and how it relates to the notion of the “spiritual” is a primary source of wonder for me. I am particularly taken with ideas of growth, healing, connection, and hope. In the more broad scope of the world, I continue to be influenced by Slavic embroidery and textiles such as Ukranian rushnyky and Karelian embroidery. American quilting, architecture, the work and writing of Claude Bragdon, psychology, literature, the color wheel, the arch, the circle, the teardrop, connectivity, geometry, human error, cosmologies, and color symbolism constantly inform my work.
Traditional methods of craft and art making such as religious icon painting and embroidery attract me because of the time and attention that these objects are given, by their makers as well as by their venerators. I am interested in the potential of abstract, pattern based painting because the possibilities are truly endless and there is so much room for the creation of meaning and depth. The connection between the disciplined, devotional approach to making and discovering human potential is essential to what I do. I make work that explores this connection and it, in turn, gives me life.”
Kerry began her residency at NWOSU on April 1st, and will develop a body of work in the Jesse Dunn Art Annex, room 323. Kerry will provide feedback to Visual Arts students and conduct an artist lecture for the community of Alva. A culminating exhibition of the work Kerry creates at NWOSU will be displayed on Friday, May 5th during the May First Friday Art Walk.
View Kerry’s work at: kerrycottle.com