Kate Petley, submitted artwork
Kate Petley
Painting
Peekskill, New York
Kate Petley’s image-making process is guided by a will to transform. She constructs abstract paintings by first creating dramatically lit sculptural arrangements that are photographed, printed, and selectively painted. The overall flatness of the images contravenes their holographic appearance. Petley has been awarded a 2025 Pollock Krasner Foundation Grant. She has been featured in thirty solo exhibitions and is represented by VonLintel Gallery in Los Angeles, Robischon Gallery in Denver, and Manneken Press in Bloomington, Illinois. Her work has been featured in publications such as Artforum’s Must See, Lenscratch, L’Oeil de la Photographie, and the Houston Chronicle. She has participated in solo and group exhibitions at the MCA Denver, FotoFest Houston, CU Art Museum, Museum of South Texas, Grinnell College Museum of Art, Museum of the Southwest, the Arlington Museum of Art, and the Martin Museum at Baylor University. Petley was Guest Curator at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art (BMOCA) in 2021 and returns in 2026 to curate another museum-wide exhibition. Petley participated in PhotoIreland 2017 in Dublin and is a Ucross Foundation fellowship recipient. She was awarded an NEA Rockefeller Foundation grant in support of a photographic installation exhibited at Diverseworks Houston. Petley received a BFA cum laude from the University of Utah in 1976 in Sculpture and Ceramics. She lives and works in Peekskill, New York.
Works
Kate Petley, submitted artwork
My work originates with a temporary sculpture, moves through photography, and results in a painting. I rely on an expanded definition of painting that includes other mediums, used interchangeably and without hierarchy. The boundaries between mediums are resisted and erased. I am considering what the history of the luminous surface might mean now that the backlit screen dominates our vision. Cinematic references appear as high-contrast shadows in my work. Light and color mix with deep shadows to express my sensory reactions to the physical and psychological conditions I experience. Tangible sensations are prioritized. Complete transformation lies at the heart of my work. The dimensional arrangements are temporary and don’t survive the process; this fragility is wordlessly conveyed. Sculptural shapes assume mythic proportions, with qualities that feel personal. Roughly handled, my constructed environments show signs of their making with no attempt to conceal their flawed surfaces. These aspects could be considered metaphors for the human condition. Some works contain a central character, acting within an atmospheric background. A reference to portraiture is subtly implied. Passing through an endless array of environments that vary greatly in intensity, I am changed by their collective impact. My work sorts this out by reclassifying these encounters as abstracted characterizations.
