Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Katie Hovencamp. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Katie, appreciate you joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

Recently, I had the opportunity to exhibit with one of my former students, Christina Dietz. Christina was one of my first students, I taught beginning sculpture at Penn State during my final semester in graduate school. This class in particular stood out in my memory because it was one of the first classes I was able to teach. The students in this class were particularly driven, it was an 8am class which wasn’t the easiest for some college students, however this group was fantastic because of how hard they worked and all of them were just delightful as people.

Over the years I have stayed in touch with some of them and Christina was one of them. She ended up graduating with her BFA in Sculpture and has managed to win various awards and was able to participate in some artist residencies all over the world. We both noticed that we had a lot in common with our work. We have been exploring similar themes and we were seeking the opportunity to exhibit together. Luckily, that opportunity arose at Soft Machine Gallery in Allentown, PA. Together we created an exhibition called, “Secret Ingredient.” All of the work in the exhibition was made questioning aspects of patriarchy while using domestic and food based imagery and sculpture. The title was inspired by the idea of what a secret ingredient could be. It has the potential to be good, insidious, strange, it has the possibility to be anything which could be exciting or terrifying. We both enjoyed the notion of that idea since we both like to work with the element of surprise.

Working with Christina and Soft Machine Gallery was a wonderful experience. It was so nice to see the evolution of Christina’s work. I was so happy that we were able to work together and create a really fun and thoughtful exhibition.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I received my BFA from Arizona State University in 2009 and her MFA from the Pennsylvania State University in 2014. I have exhibited my work in numerous exhibitions within the United States, Europe, and Asia.

My work has been reviewed in Sculpture Magazine, Chicago Reader, and several online and print publications. I was the recipient of the Outstanding Student Achievement Award for Contemporary Sculpture in 2014 and the University Graduate Fellowship at the Pennsylvania State University in 2012. I participated in residency programs at Vermont Studio Center, Serde Interdisciplinary artist group in Latvia, and the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Ireland.

In 2016, I was awarded an artist residency with International Sculpture Center at Mana Contemporary in Jersey City, NJ. I taught at various institutions such as the Edna Vihel Center for the Arts, Totts Gap Art Institute, Pennsylvania State University, Harrisburg Area Community College, Keystone College, and Northampton Community College.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

As an artist I also teach as my main way of making a living. To me one of the most rewarding things I see is seeing a student who was apprehensive or afraid gain confidence by learning a new skill or a way of making. I mostly teach sculpture and 3D design and the processes that are taught in my course aren’t the easiest to learn. Welding is always something that can be tough for students since it takes a little while to adjust on how to read light, sound, and how to get a weld to work. When I see students practicing and starting to understand the process it makes me so happy to watch them get better. The best part is seeing what they create after learning this process.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

2018 was the busiest and toughest year of my life. Unfortunately, I lost my mother to pancreatic cancer in the fall. I had a lot of creative opportunities at the time, I was working at my teaching job, taking care of my mom, and trying to balance my creative life. I was extremely stretched thin and I had to decide what was the most important thing to focus on and that was my mom. Her illness came back for a second time and it was way more aggressive. It was devastating to watch her get so sick in such a short period of time. When she passed away it took me a while to make art work again and come to terms with everything that happened. I had to take a break as much as I could. Then I would schedule more time off, it took me a while to bounce back. I was physically and mentally drained. I learned that I needed a better work life balance so I made some changes in order to do that. I am still trying to find that balance. I feel like I am a constant work in progress.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.katiehovencamp.com/
• Instagram: @katiehovencamp
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=10033432

Image Credits
Joanna Wallace