We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mindi Katzman a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Mindi, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
The placement of paintings in healing centers has meant so much to me. From Swedish Cancer Center in Seattle, to The Cancer Center of Anecortes, also in Washington, it is rewarding to know that my work might lend some peace to people challenged with health problems either as a family member or themselves or as staff.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Greetings Readers, I am a multi disciplinary artist. What does this mean? My work has slowly morphed from strictly 2-d drawings and paintings to now include large out door pieces, small sculptures meant for interior, and investigation into alternative 2-d things (think comix/cartoons, collage.) I have found the more exploring I do, the broader my range of visual communication.
In college, I discovered the world of drawing and printmaking. I was fortunate to attend the University of South Florida which had a professional printmaking atelier on campus, GRAPHIC STUDIO. This gave us an incredible staff of printmakers and exposure to artists whose work they were realizing. As far as drawing, who knew what I did not know. The world of line was magical.
Post college, I pretty much left printmaking as the access to the studio was not available. I kept up drawing, moved to New York, found work in a gallery and continued with painting classes. The education of gallery work was probably the best thing that happened to me. Seeing what a really good dealer offered her artists…promoting their work, finding collectors, putting up shows, giving emotional support, made me understand what galleries and dealers, at their best, can do. Getting my own work out there was another story, but at least I understood the work I needed to do.
In time, I moved to Seattle where I continued to pursue my work. I did large, mostly landscape, paintings which I showed and occasionally sold. From here, I was introduced to encaustic painting which I embraced for its versatility. As often happens with a new medium, you try things that may not be the traditional use of said medium. One of my suppliers would use some of my images for his demos. I worked with encaustics for more that 15 years. At that point, I wanted to try somehow making my paintings 3-d, took up welding and learned 1) I loved metal, and 2) I could use encaustics on it. So, down the next path. The welding allowed me a whole other, less formal, spontaneous imagery which could be both humorous and whimsical, something I do not seem to be able to do with my paintings.
(That said, I have also been tinkering with comics /cartooning after taking a couple of classes and enjoying that as a way to create a venue for a humorous outlook on the world (think NANA DOES TINDER))
I had some ideas for much larger out door pieces and was able to find a fabricator to help me realize them. These whimsical 6′ dinosaurs now reside at Matzke Gallery on Camano Island, a couple of hours from Seattle and are looking for homes. https://www.matzkefineart.com/
Covid also led to some studio changes in my work…no big surprise as we artists were challenged during lock down. Looking around, I found I had many cradle boards left from other projects. And at that time I had taken a photo of a skylight in my house which intrigued me. I started drawing on the boards directly and the marriage of the wood grain and the skylights’ ever changing shadows, and angles, became the next path. I worked with this theme and materials for about two years, and now am embarking on some much larger and ambitious drawings based on the theme of mycelium. I am excited about having found a way to work on a larger scale again. The journey continues.
In summary, I would say that art biodiversity is what is motivating me at this stage of my art making world.
Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
I wish that during my college years there would have been a senior seminar based on what possibilities were out ther for the new graduate. From technical details (how to store and take care of work, how to ship work) How to photograph, present work. How to write an introductory letter. How to research possibilities for applying to residencies. Juried competitions.
Much of this is on line now (I graduated in 1976), but that does not automatically mean students will necessarily know how to mine the field.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Resilience…the ability to believe in your vision, develop the ability to accept rejections, criticisms, and continue to create.
Contact Info:
- Website: mindikatzman.com
- Instagram: @mindikatzman
- Facebook: @mindikatzman