Katie Butler

Katie Butler is an emerging artist based in Akron, Ohio. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in painting and drawing from the University of Akron in 2017 and her Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in painting from Kent State University in 2021. Her work has been exhibited regionally and nationally, including shows at Abattoir Gallery in Cleveland, Unit London in England, and Marrow Gallery in San Francisco.

Katie draws inspiration from a variety of sources, including Dutch still life painting traditions and contemporary political events. Her work often reflects her personal experiences and observations, making it relatable and impactful.

Katie's art often explores the relationship between money and power, critiquing the imbalances in political and economic systems. Her recent exhibitions, such as "State of the State" at Abattoir Gallery, feature politically charged works that use still life depictions to comment on societal issues. Her paintings often incorporate symbolism and allegory, inviting viewers to reflect on the underlying messages.

Katie Butler has created several notable works that have garnered attention in the art world. Some of her best-known pieces include:

"And if Your Mind Begins to Wander" (2023): This piece explores themes of introspection and mental wandering, using expressive and evocative imagery.

"Penne for Your Thoughts" (2023): A vibrant and thought-provoking work that combines culinary elements with deeper reflections on thought processes.

"Pity Party" (2023): This artwork delves into emotions and personal experiences, inviting viewers to connect with the underlying messages.

"Ladies Room" (2024): A recent piece that continues her exploration of personal and societal themes, showcasing her evolving style and technique.

These works have been well-received in exhibitions and have helped establish Katie Butler as a promising artist in the contemporary art scene.

Her solo exhibition at HESSE FLATOW in New York was featured as a "Must See" exhibition in ArtForum, and her work has appeared in publications like New American Paintings and Harper's Magazine. Critics praise her ability to blend realism with abstraction, creating thought-provoking and visually engaging pieces.

Die Galerie

Q & A

I am always trying to push myself and make my most recent piece of artwork also my favourite; however, there are some pieces that stand out to me as favourites even as I continue to make newer work. One of these pieces is my painting entitled “Bliss”, which depicts a young girl sleeping cuddled up with a tiger. It has a special meaning to me as it is part of a very personal collection of work I’ve been creating and curating for the past few years. “Bliss” is the calm before the storm, the peace of naivety. This painting takes aesthetic inspiration from fairy tales like the Little Red Riding Hood and Thumbelina, that often tell dark stories behind the pastels and frills, serving as warnings to young girls of the dangers of trusting without discernment.

I come from a family of artists on my maternal side. My mother and her mother are both artists who made figurative artwork, so they always encouraged my creativity. While I am not professionally trained as an artist, I am less “self-made” and more “home-made”.

My work aims to connect to and relate with its audience. I like to create work that is very honest and approachable, using familiar scenes and colour choices to convey moods and feelings. As such, I hope people remember how my artwork made them feel seen, whether in big or small ways.

A lot of my style comes from the technical application of the paint as someone who began painting with acrylics. My flat brushstrokes tend to be very intentional and geometric after working with the quick dry time of acrylics where blending on the canvas was not an option. Now, as I expand my practice into other media I try to retain this type of painting application. Another element of my style comes from the choices of subject matter. So much of this comes down to my own taste and ideas of composition which develop slightly as I am inspired my pop-culture and life events, but remain relatively consistent, as if a manifestation of my personality.

I would say you are brave. That it is cool to care and to try hard for the things you care about. This career involves a lot of self-advocacy, trust and patience and everyone’s path looks so different. I would encourage making whatever life choices necessary to give yourself the space and time to create the work you want to make in an authentic way, so that the work you are showing aligns with or can build into the work you want continue showing.

Most of my work is set in interiors or more urban locations. I love the shapes and angles the architecture allows you to bring into a piece. Nature is so beautiful that I just have to branch out from time to time, but all that organic material is not my favourite painting subject. Love a fabric though, or anything cozy in atmosphere.

I would love to get into oil sticks. Before I ever started painting, I was big into black and white dry media work, and many of the sketches that came most naturally to me had a scribbly quality with lots of “suggestions” of subject matter through movement and mark making that isn’t really attainable in the wet media I use now. I have fallen in love with making vibrant paintings and couldn’t go back to charcoal and graphite but would love to scribble away with some oil sticks as I could more comfortable with oils in general.

I like that my work brings a story into the space, like a little rectangular portal into a different world. I also just love to see a well curated painting, whenever I am sent images of a painting’s final home and it’s such a good fit thematically, colour-wise, etc. it makes me so happy.

When I’m not creating art I enjoy reading, yoga, spending time with my friends and family. It’s nice make time to take in inspiration and media when your work involves so much output.

I think my younger self was different in ways that wouldn’t have made her compatible with this career path. She certainly knew her mind more than I tend to these days so there’s not much I could have told her that she hadn’t already decided on. I maybe would have asked her to develop better routines for technical art practice well she had so much youthful energy to use, so that I could be further along today.

Hinter der Kunst

„Gras berühren“

„Touching Grass“ handelt vom Bedürfnis, aber auch vom Problem, abzuschalten und präsent und geerdet zu sein. (Beachten Sie die subtilen Störungen.) Besonders schuldig bin ich, weil ich ständig online bin, um mit den Algorithmen Schritt zu halten und die meisten Karrieremöglichkeiten im Kunstbereich über meinen Bildschirm zu erreichen. Manchmal muss man einfach rausgehen und Gras berühren, um sich daran zu erinnern, dass man nur ein kleiner Fleck auf einem riesigen, runden Stein ist.

„Damentoilette“

„Ladies‘ Room“ ist eine spielerisch-satirische Interpretation des Mysteriums, das in der Mädchentoilette vor sich geht, und nimmt Bezug auf die Symbolik der 3 Kelche (Gruppen, die zusammenkommen, um sich auf ein gemeinsames emotionales Ziel zu konzentrieren).

"Trotzdem"

„Still“ nutzt die Bildsprache von stillem Wasser, um den langsamen und langweiligen Heilungsprozess nach dem Ende einer emotional instabilen Beziehung darzustellen. Ohne die Höhen und Tiefen, nach denen man sich so sehr sehnt, scheint die Zeit langsamer zu vergehen und die Energie ist erschöpft.