Embodied Structures by Katie Tomerlin (4/1/22 - 4/10/22)
Katie Tomerlin (they/them) grew up in a small town in the rolling hills of Texas where everyone knew each other, not many people left, and even fewer people went to college. From a young age, they began making art as an act of bonding with the women that they loved most in the world. Coming from a lineage of artists, artisans, and craftspeople who used their art as an escape from their 9-5 inspired Katie, as a first generation college student, to attend University of Arizona to study Gender and Women’s Studies & Studio Art. Their works are a portfolio reflective of and in response to growing up queer in a nuclear family inside of a rural, conservative community.
“My studio practice challenges the heteronormative, patriarchal conditions of capitalism that exploit and diminish non-men. In dialogue with feminist theory, as well as my lived experiences as a queer, trans/nonbinary person, I create works that destabilize the construction of monolithic gender narratives and highlight how queer/trans communities actively resist their pervasive grasp. Lorde’s concept of “the master’s tools” inspired my subversive “tool kit” which includes alternative photo processes and printmaking to create works that visually juxtapose appropriated imagery and personal family photos. Images from manufacturing textbooks, and fashion magazines ground the work by bringing their own complex historical and socio-political context while creating tension with the personal, visceral nature of my family archive.” - Tomerlin
