Artist Statement
“Influenced by man-made environmental catastrophes, emotional landscapes, and ecological systems, I assemble highly tactile sculptures transmuting these themes into lavish maximalism. Using large quantities of collected and constructed objects, my composite forms and dynamic biophilic textures interrogate socially constructed value and material narrative. Engaging with history laden excesses, I shape scenes that examine the binary between the living and manufactured worlds with an emphasis on a somatic experience of Craft. Through a lens of deep time, particular interest is placed on synthetic and highly manufactured elements as an action to transform anthropogenic ruin into an counter-economic act of rebellion. My work is a method to posit a regenerative future and pose questions about psychological perception, socially constructed value, and a broader care ethic through a lens of desire and abundance.
Composed of highly textured surfaces and miniature biophilic vessels, my ceramic forms capture absence as a tangible object to touch and feel. Objects from personal life like paper that assigns cultural value like medical and tax documents augment unique clay bodies. Autobiographical textiles are integrated with clay to form compartments and voids that emulate organic architectures. Small molded components are cast from medication packaging to create tactile surfaces ripe for abundant ornamentation, teaming with life akin to marine microfauna. Rooted in Post Natural Studies, these clay objects emerge from complex processes, where the manufactured relents to fluid chaos, possessing an alluring strangeness that emerges when the body recognizes connection to our planet’s life sustaining forces . My sculptures become a receptacle of material histories, calcifying memory, and imagined futures of self as if these were a symbiotic ecosystem element; small parts essential to assemble a larger whole and discover abundant fodder for transformation in the creative process.Kate Rusek assembles highly tactile sculptures, textile, and installation with an emphasis on Craft and materiality. Her work transmutes wasting and waste matter into abundant, maximalist, composite forms and dynamic biophilic textures that interrogate assigned value, material narrative, and a rigid binary of ‘natural’ and ‘unnatural’.”
Biography
Kate Rusek’s research, writing, and artwork examines the connective edges and dissonant intersections between humanity’s material culture and the natural world.
Rusek received dual B.F.As from The University of Miami and an M.A from Savannah College of Art and Design. Rusek has been awarded residencies at The Archie Bray Foundation, Chulitna Lodge, The Hambidge Center, GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, and Vermont Studio Center among others. She is the Devra Freelander Fellow at Socrates Sculpture Park for 2023 and the recipient of a Windgate Distinguished Fellowship for Innovation in Craft. Rusek has exhibited her work in New York, Los Angeles, across Montana and the Pacific Northwest. Select exhibition venues include Trotter and Scholer, Spring Break Art Fair, Socrates Sculpture Park, Mizuma, Kips, and Wada, Studio Archive, La Bodega Gallery, Koulva Sullivan, Geheim Gallery, Governors Island Art Fair, and the Gallery of Visual Arts at The University of Montana. She will present a solo exhibition at Geheim Gallery (Bellingham, WA) and The Vatican at studio e gallery, a two person show at The Vestibule (Seattle), and a two person show at Yellow Studio Gallery in Cross River NY in 2024. Additionally, Kate Rusek is a Daytime Emmy winner for her work on Sesame Street. She consistently works as a Tailor, builder of fine and specialty costumes, and design/builder of puppets as a member of IASTE Local 764. She has contributed her expertise to the broader film, television, and theater industry for the last 15 years. This work informs a portion of the artist's approach to devotional craftsmanship and materiality in her practice. Rusek currently splits her time between New York City and the Washington Coast.
Artist Statement
“Influenced by man-made environmental catastrophes, emotional landscapes, and ecological systems, I assemble highly tactile sculptures transmuting these themes into lavish maximalism. Using large quantities of collected and constructed objects, my composite forms and dynamic biophilic textures interrogate socially constructed value and material narrative. Engaging with history laden excesses, I shape scenes that examine the binary between the living and manufactured worlds with an emphasis on a somatic experience of Craft. Through a lens of deep time, particular interest is placed on synthetic and highly manufactured elements as an action to transform anthropogenic ruin into an counter-economic act of rebellion. My work is a method to posit a regenerative future and pose questions about psychological perception, socially constructed value, and a broader care ethic through a lens of desire and abundance.
Composed of highly textured surfaces and miniature biophilic vessels, my ceramic forms capture absence as a tangible object to touch and feel. Objects from personal life like paper that assigns cultural value like medical and tax documents augment unique clay bodies. Autobiographical textiles are integrated with clay to form compartments and voids that emulate organic architectures. Small molded components are cast from medication packaging to create tactile surfaces ripe for abundant ornamentation, teaming with life akin to marine microfauna. Rooted in Post Natural Studies, these clay objects emerge from complex processes, where the manufactured relents to fluid chaos, possessing an alluring strangeness that emerges when the body recognizes connection to our planet’s life sustaining forces . My sculptures become a receptacle of material histories, calcifying memory, and imagined futures of self as if these were a symbiotic ecosystem element; small parts essential to assemble a larger whole and discover abundant fodder for transformation in the creative process.Kate Rusek assembles highly tactile sculptures, textile, and installation with an emphasis on Craft and materiality. Her work transmutes wasting and waste matter into abundant, maximalist, composite forms and dynamic biophilic textures that interrogate assigned value, material narrative, and a rigid binary of ‘natural’ and ‘unnatural’.”
Biography
Kate Rusek’s research, writing, and artwork examines the connective edges and dissonant intersections between humanity’s material culture and the natural world.
Rusek received dual B.F.As from The University of Miami and an M.A from Savannah College of Art and Design. Rusek has been awarded residencies at The Archie Bray Foundation, Chulitna Lodge, The Hambidge Center, GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, and Vermont Studio Center among others. She is the Devra Freelander Fellow at Socrates Sculpture Park for 2023 and the recipient of a Windgate Distinguished Fellowship for Innovation in Craft. Rusek has exhibited her work in New York, Los Angeles, across Montana and the Pacific Northwest. Select exhibition venues include Trotter and Scholer, Spring Break Art Fair, Socrates Sculpture Park, Mizuma, Kips, and Wada, Studio Archive, La Bodega Gallery, Koulva Sullivan, Geheim Gallery, Governors Island Art Fair, and the Gallery of Visual Arts at The University of Montana. She will present a solo exhibition at Geheim Gallery (Bellingham, WA) and The Vatican at studio e gallery, a two person show at The Vestibule (Seattle), and a two person show at Yellow Studio Gallery in Cross River NY in 2024. Additionally, Kate Rusek is a Daytime Emmy winner for her work on Sesame Street. She consistently works as a Tailor, builder of fine and specialty costumes, and design/builder of puppets as a member of IASTE Local 764. She has contributed her expertise to the broader film, television, and theater industry for the last 15 years. This work informs a portion of the artist's approach to devotional craftsmanship and materiality in her practice. Rusek currently splits her time between New York City and the Washington Coast.