WW9 – Kate Eggleston

Howdy to the interwebs!  My name is Kate Eggleston and I am proud to be part of Wonder Women 9!

Here’s a little overview of my artwork and who I am:

My work explores the female experience including domesticity, gender, and motherhood. With whimsy and aggression, as sweet is inevitably paired with sour, I playfully sculpt soft metaphors from a variety of textiles. I try to work intuitively, allowing the subject matter to dictate the materials; as a diviner pulls tarot cards from their deck to read the past, present, and future. I have become increasingly involved in the creation of my raw materials, specifically hand-dyeing and painting textiles I use in my work (a practice I wish to push further). By having a hand in all aspects of creation, my work achieves a particular depth that’s very fulfilling for me.

I received my BA in Visual Arts from Ramapo College of NJ, as well as my NJ Art Teacher certification. I taught art and art history to preK-12th grade students around NJ for about six years, which was an extremely rewarding experience. Last semester, I had the pleasure of teaching two classes on Andy Warhol and Valerie Solanas in an American Pop Culture 101 course at Drew University. I completed a summer intensive residency in sculpture at the Tyler School of Art at Temple University in Philly, PA in 2012.  I enjoy comics, Renaissance faires, geocaching, petting zoos, and spending summers in Port Loring, Ontario with family.  I live and work in central NJ with my husband, our daughter, and our furry, four-legged babies.

You can see more of my work at kateeggs.com.  My email is kate.eggleston@yahoo.com.

Exhibition Proposal for WW9:

A monument of fleshy geodes, a record of me
Hack them apart and count the rings
Years of plenty, layers of less
Thumb through the diary of my consumption.

With this short poem, and the work that shall accompany it, I hope to reminisce with the viewer my experiences with food and how they relate to women, family, and body image.  By fleshing out my history with food via soft sculpture pieces, the viewer is able to compare and contrast their own experiences.

The soft sculpture I’m planning to create will be comprised of several pieces at varying heights, which ideally should be placed on the floor.  I plan to paint, dye, and print my own textiles for this project.  The pieces will remind the viewer of hunks of flesh, with their interiors exposed in clean cuts to reveal multiple layers representing my consumptive memories over 32 years.

After the initial critique I have a lot to think about, but having a community of artists to learn and grow with is something that I live for.  I am very excited about the weeks to come!