Born in Asheville, NC in 1989, Kate MacNeil spent her childhood all across the US, roaming from the Rocky Mountains to the shores of Californ-I-A to Fostah-Glostah, Rhode Island. She has spent the past few years in Charleston, SC, where she currently resides. MacNeil graduated from the College of Charleston Magna Cum Laude with a BA in Studio Art in 2011. She has been a studio renter at the Redux Contemporary Art Center since 2011 and currently works as the Printmaking Technician at the College of Charleston.
Artist Statement
In my most recent work, I use flowers as an allegory for emotional responses to death experienced in life. A portrait of a hanging sunflower recalls a once fragile existence, just as a memory preserves the life of a loved one. I manipulate plants and their spatial surroundings, the way the mind manipulates thoughts, to re-tell a never-ending story of life, struggle, and ultimately, release.
My obsession with the struggle of these transient beings is most accurately portrayed in the similarly obsessive methods of printmaking. The repetitive nature of printmaking hums right along to my cyclical thoughts of life, death and memory. Requiring meticulous hands and attention to detail, printmaking focuses my mind on the details of the thoughts I am reflecting in my visuals.
For Charleston Supported Art, I hope to continue this study, exploring the passage of art through time and memory. I intend to create a series of prints relating to my current work utilizing intaglio techniques. Each print will be an edition of sixteen, giving a total of 32 pieces of art.
Find more of Kate’s work here.
PURCHASE KATE’S SEASON
FEATURED WITH:
Jen Ervin
Tina Hirsig
Anna Hopkins
Alan Jackson
Joshua Lynn