ABOUT THE STUDIO
Kate Gilbert Studio cultivates the critical role the arts and artists play in transforming our cities, our relationships, and ourselves. These investigations manifest in artwork, a curatorial practice and dedication to expanding the field of public art.
ABOUT KATE
Kate Gilbert strives to facilitate joy and spontaneity and to drive public appreciation of contemporary art practices. Gilbert, the product of generations of creatives who didn't dare call themselves artists, cites her over-active childhood imagination and early exposure to large-scale sculpture as critical factors in her creative investigations. As a natural collaborator and problem solver she offers curatorial services for public settings while also serving as the executive director of the Boston public art non-profit Now and There.
Gilbert is a graduate of Connecticut College and earned her MFA from School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. She is currently an adjunct assistant professor of art at Connecticut College teaching Shelter and Comfort, an interdisciplinary sculpture course, and a frequent participant in panels and workshops on public art. Gilbert lives and works in Boston, MA with her husband and their snaggle-toothed Italian Greyhound.
CV
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ARTISTIC STATEMENT
In sculpture, video and installation, I focus on the nature of consumption and the exploration of distinct alternatives.
My work explores the relational hierarchies of objects and people. It employs humor, simulation, and meditative observation to question objects of comfort, the retail systems they operate in, our consumptive behaviors and our collective fears. It then suggests alternatives.
The sculptures and installations, often simulations of interiors, shelters, clothing, and objects of desire, are created with inexpensive or impermanent materials such as building insulation, fabric and found asphalt. They provoke one to explore failed utopias, the relationship of designers to their clients, and ultimately leaders to our communities. They prompt questions about who sets our trends in shelter and fashion and whom these tastemakers are really serving.
In all of my artworks, curatorial projects and teaching, I strive to facilitate independent thinking, provide platforms for meditative reflection, and offer authentic alternatives to unhealthy behaviors.