Biography
Torn between the creative world of visual art and the logical world of science throughout her youth, Kate Meyer has led a winding path between both worlds during her career. She first studied photography before completing her degree in fine art. Soon after, she attended Michigan State University and earned her Bachelor of Science in the study of Zoology, with a concentration in Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology.
Kate’s medium of choice is encaustic – a luminous mixture of beeswax, resin, and pigment that allows her to create both visual and structural depth in her work. It also allows objects to be embedded, textures to be carved and revealed, and images and mementos to be transferred onto the work.
Kate was the 2014 grantee of the Arts Council of Greater Lansing’s Individual Artist Grant, which was the catalyst for her latest body of work that dissects memory and the healing process after trauma. Kate’s work has been displayed in numerous locations in Grand Rapids, including Grand Rapids Brewing Company, Fountain Street Church, and One Trick Pony Grill and Taproom. Kate is the artist in residence at the Forest Hills Fine Arts Center for the month of July 2018. She will be participating in her 5th ArtPrize in 2018 with her work on display at The B.O.B. Kate is also the curator for One Trick Pony Grill and Taproom in Grand Rapids.
Artist Statement
The transformation that we undergo while creating a piece of art can be painful, yet liberating at the same time. It is as if the process of identifying our feelings, dissecting their source, and then capturing their fleeting imagery enables us to comprehend and even overcome life’s trials. When that creation is shared publicly, it speaks volumes by allowing the viewer into our minds and our hearts and enabling our art to communicate to the world the very words that we cannot say aloud to a single soul.
My ongoing body of work examines the intricate relationship between our heart and our minds. Memories, experiences, and feelings shape the paths of our life, yet how we analyze and react to those experiences can alter that path dramatically. This ongoing struggle between internal and external is at the root of my work as I examine the path that my own life has taken, and find peace and acceptance along the way.
My medium of choice is encaustic – a luminous mixture of beeswax and pigment that allows for the creation of both visual and structural depth. I utilize wax, metal, glass, and found objects to explore my own personal experience with grief and how fear of vulnerability constructs barriers around our hearts. These barriers ultimately cannot be sustained, and the breakdown of these walls and the unveiling of the heart is the most beautiful journey we will embark on.
Kate Meyer 