Photo by Tessa Marie Images
The creative and artist-in-residence at Scarlett Thicket Farm in Kennett Square showcases her latest works during the May studio tour.
As a sculptor, painter, seamstress and blacksmith, Katee Boyle employs a variety of mixed media in her conceptual art. Since 2016, she’s been the informal artist-in-residence at Kennett Square’s historic Scarlett Thicket Farm and its Scarlett Forge. This May, Boyle shows new work as part of the Chester County Studio Tour, which named her its favorite artist of 2020.
MLT: Describe your art.
KB: As a visual storyteller, my work deals with what I know intimately—femininity and its place in the human experience. My work speaks about desires and expectations, growth, failures, and guilt. I reflect on memory—how it forms who we are, and what we become with outside influences and internal suggestions. As my practice evolved, it taught me that being honest and committed to your work will help it find its people.
MLT: Is there one medium with which you most identify?
KB: Graphite pencil is by far my favorite tool for creating. With pencil, I create my most honest, articulate and raw work. Ironically, it’s what you’ll see the very least of from me. I mostly keep that work as seed in my journals. For the past several years, I’ve leaned heavily on the sculptural element of my work. I frequently say that my work leads me. I have learned that when I don’t commit myself to materials, my work is free and at its best.
MLT: How has Scarlett Thicket informed your work?
KB: A fairy tale environment makes a perfect backdrop for my detailed narratives. My deconstructed sculptural objects and highly textured paintings reflect well against the patina of moss-covered dry-stacked walls, centuries-old barn wood and leaded glass. Realizing my work in other spaces is always exciting because it exhibits as beautifully in a white-walled gallery space or someone’s living room as it does in an 1800s stone barn. I’ve always referred to my sculptures as artifacts. Perhaps Scarlett breathes its own history into my work.
MLT: What are you showing in May?
KB: I’ll share singular work as well as installations for dioramas that I’m creating. While some of it is ephemeral, paintings and sculptures will be available for purchase. I’m hoping the crowds will return—and bring friends— because the best reward for an artist is to have people see your work.
Visit kateeboyle.weebly.com.
