Tantalizing Textured Tentacles Transcend Typification

May 7, 2017, 7:35am

Displays of exuberant color, textured and bursting with patterns, hint at the dynamics within the subatomic world. Kate Sweeney‘s works are both loud and soft, understated yet decisive, yet anchored by the artist’s unadulterated love for science. Growing up in a household full of physics textbooks, Sweeney learned to appreciate both tangible and abstract realms of thinking. Speaking to Creators she admits to being a science groupie. Everything that Sweeney does has some influence on a branch of science: quantum physics, medicine, natural phenomena.”

The artist, who graduated with a MFA in medical illustration, has worked in the studio for years developing her particular brand of expression. She shares, “Scientific inquiry directs my work. The mind’s idea of the world, macro and micro, fascinates me.” The majority of her pieces play with the concept of shape and form, often incorporating a fluidity that can transcend boundaries. Sweeney has an interest in bending corners and challenging sharp edges. She assembles her works to move without the hindrance of established boundaries, able to spread of their own accord—similar to untempered nature of ancient cave paintings.