You like'n what you see'n? I do too! I was lucky enough to run into this artist about a month back at PONSHOP. I saw these amazing, kick-ass paintings and was searching around hoping to meet the dude who did them.
I asked Scarlet Pons (one of the owners of the PONSHOP) and fully suspected to meet this sexy, billy bad-ass dude with tattoos and a surly expression.
Instead, I met Katy! A cute, petite blonde chic but definitely fitting the description of bad-ass. Immediately, I could tell that there was some "layers" to this "onion". My first words to her? "You're going to be famous!". Of course, she was one of my first contacts made when I decided I wanted to do an interview. If you're anything like me, you want to learn more about this amazing artist. Here you go, my surprise artist and first interviewee. Katharina Weidemann!
Jams: Let's start at the beginning, tell us about "little Katy"...born? raised? education?
Katy: I moved around a lot when I was young, which, unlike most children in that situation, I loved. I was born in Baltimore, I lived in Ireland for a bit, then my family moved to New Orleans, then Dallas, and for high school I was in Philadelphia. Though I spent the longest period of time in Philadelphia, I consider New Orleans my home and I go back as often as I can. I now am in my third year at Rhode Island School of Design as an Illustration major.
Jams: How about a story about "little Katy" that in retrospect showed you'd be an artist when you got older?
Katy: I was constantly drawing and making things for as long as I can remember, but when I was about ten my dream job was to make anatomical illustrations for medical books. That year for my birthday I asked for an anatomical skeleton and anatomy textbooks. The skeleton still stands in my bedroom, fully dressed.
Jams: For those not familiar with your body of work, tell them what they can expect?
Katy: The main body of my work depicts female nudes, predominantly with shaved heads. The idea behind this theme deals with a woman’s pride in the natural beauty of her body as well as her sexuality.
Jams: What is the media you work most with?
Katy: I started out in high school working almost entirely with pen and ink, mainly because I didn’t feel comfortable working with color, but as my knowledge of color theory developed when I went to college I transitioned quickly into painting. I now work primarily with multi layer stencils and spray paint along with oil paint.
Jams: Where do you pull most of your inspiration from?
Katy: I pull a lot of my inspiration from both artists in the street art movement as well as artists from the German Expressionist movement, such as Otto Dix and Egon Schiele. I also adore artists such as Francis Bacon and Peter Paul Rubens, but the vast majority of my inspiration comes from dreams and personal experiences.
Jams: What are your goals in this "rat race" called life? If you could take your art talents anywhere, where would you be?
Katy: As of now, my ideal career would be to illustrate and design sets and creatures or monsters for films.
Jams: If you could spend the day with one artist, alive or dead, who would it be? Why?
Katy: That’s a difficult question to answer, partially because there are so many artists I would love to meet, but also because most of them were completely insane or in some way emotionally disturbed. But I guess if I could only choose one artist it would have to be Francis Bacon because I would love to understand the concepts behind his way of abstracting and distorting the figures in his paintings.
Jams: Describe your studio/work space in one word?
Katy: Unpredictable.
Jams: Think fast! Favorites:
Katy:
Color: Eggplant
Animal: Octopus
Candy: Salt Water Taffy
Word: Merkin
Place: New Orleans
Person: Tom Waits
Jams: Okay, here's the part where you throw in a gratuitous plug- Tell my readers where they can find your art (shows, exhibits, online, books?)
Katy: I currently have a few pieces and prints of my work at PONSHOP Studio and Gallery on Caroline Street in Downtown Fredericksburg and my current body of work can be viewed on my website, www.katywiedemann.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment