Katelyn Swartz

State of Transition

My show State of Transition explores the process of moving through adverse life experiences through the use of paint and natural materials. Each of these pieces focuses on the expression of feeling outweighing the desire to paint something tangible, making the process of creating equally as valuable as the result. In the past year, I’ve travelled and collected sand from the places that have aided in the acceptance and understanding of my emotions. When I take this sand to the studio, I lay down large sections of oil paint that represent both the landscape in which the sand came from and the emotions that I felt while I was in this space. I then use large, fluid brushstrokes to cover the canvas, adding thick sections of paint and removing large sections where needed. These quick, sweeping movements serve not only as a creative outlet, but as a mechanism for coping through eye movement desensitization and reprocessing. The final part of this process is the addition of the sand to my pieces, closing out the work and serving as a sort of time capsule, holding the emotions of the period and allowing me to move beyond them.

The Loving

• MediumOil Paint and Sand
• Size72"x36"




The Bargaining

• MediumOil Paint and Sand
• Size48"x36"










Cameron

• MediumOil Paint and Sand
• Size36"x36"






















Crawl

• MediumOil Paint and Sand
• Size36"x36"
























Crested Butte

• MediumOil Paint
• Size48"x36"

















Desiderium

• MediumOil Paint and Sand
• Size50.5"x24"









Longing

• MediumOil Paint and Sand
• Size30"x18"













Mid October

• MediumOil Paint and Sand
• Size36"x48"






























Reclamation

• MediumOil Paint and Sand
• Size48"x26"










Taking Space

• MediumOil Paint and Sand
• Size27.5"x29"




























The Losing

• MediumOil Paint
• Size36"









Warmer Last Night

• MediumOil Paint and Sand
• Size36"x36"