About
Press and News
Check out some of the press coverage and links to some more information about Kathryn's artwork in shows and galleries.
Kathryn McDonnell: Watergate Gallery
Exhibition Harmony and Balance
New Moon
During the pandemic, there was time to reflect inwardly and consider the things in life that matter most. Harmony and balance visited me when I took the time to be quiet. Feelings of gratitude emerged as I reflected how fortunate I am to have a home, a healthy family, and fulfilling work. Worry, fear, sadness, anger, selfishness, and other emotions are responses I experienced during the Covid-19 health crisis. To remain balanced and in harmony, I realized that hard feelings or scary reactions are harmful if they take control but manageable if I accept their existence. Time and quiet were needed to understand what brought them to the surface. The hidden part, the invisible part, like the face of the New Moon, has a lot to teach. I can only understand if explored.
Fields of Inquiry
The realm of artistic material becomes a place of inquiry in a work titled, Floating Worlds. Mei Mei Chang, Pat Goslee, and Kathryn McDonnell approach making art on their own terms, each possessing a different creative hand that defines their practice. Contemporary painting, especially abstract painting, is rarely considered a collaborative workspace. In this case, each artist contributes equally, adding and also consequently subtracting from the work of the other two artists. Assertion and submission play equal roles in making the single work. Working collaboratively, a new field of inquiry was created where the intersection of reason and response offered challenges and strategies for completing a work of art. A final question loomed, is the painting "Floating Worlds" complete?
30 years of the Hamblet Award, Space 204
Kathryn McDonnell was the first ever recipient of the Margaret Stonewall Hamblet Award. After winning the award her life changed as she set out on a new path that took her to Washington DC via stints in San Francisco, Argentina and the Bahamas. At Vanderbilt University, she earned a double major in Art History and Russian language. Through Kathryn’s connection with her husband, who is a Human Rights advocate, foreign service officer and college sweetheart, she met many people from around the globe. Her global worldview and relationships directly impacted her artistic practice.
