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Kathryn Kampovsky, (b.1997), is a self-taught artist who lives and works in Atlanta, GA. She creates layered paintings using oil and acrylic using intentional and varied color palettes. With a focus in figurative painting, she explores her interest in the unconscious desire to prepare for an unpredictable world. Her work aims to understand the ways that daily life, technology, and life events permeate the brain and body in ways that make the flesh inseparable from the outside world.
The flesh of her larger than life figures, towing the line between the intimacy of a figure painting, and the modernity of its tools. Using maligned perspectives and transparency, the figures appear to be inextricable from their environments and melting into their outer worlds.
Hi Kathryn, thank you for sitting down with me… Here we go! First question. How does a regular day look like for you in Atlanta?
Thank you for wanting to speak with me! So I do have a pretty consistent schedule right now, I wake up around 9 am, and then I usually enjoy a pretty slow morning with coffee, breakfast, hanging out with my cats and so on. If I’m going to answer an email or text it will be at this time most likely. I end up at the studio around noon- and I stay there until anywhere from 8pm to midnight. And as hard as I’ve tried to be a person who works out in the morning, it seems I can only enjoy it in the middle of the night. My exercise of choice is running at the moment. I’m definitely a night owl.
So did you grow up in Atlanta, or where did you grow up? Also, I’m curious, what kind of kid were you? What did you enjoy doing and how did you spend your time?
I was actually born in a little log cabin in the forested outskirts of Atlanta. It’s since been torn down but I have a very clear memory of growing up there. My family has remained in more rural or suburban areas of Georgia since then.
I’m a middle child, I have an older brother and a younger sister, and we were blessed to have what many would consider an “Off the Grid” upbringing. There was very little technology in my life until I was really an adult. My brother and I, especially, were really sent outside and we would do god knows what all day in the woods, then come home and take baths in a slop sink. I was always a pretty reserved, quiet kid. I was absolutely, neurotically obsessed with animals. And still am, really. But I did have some difficulties making friends and struggled to find my social footing- which left me generally in the back of a classroom reading or, surprise, drawing. Little has changed, actually. Although now I have a couple of friends.
Cool, so with that out of the way, when did you start painting and when did you start taking it seriously?
My grandmother was an oil painter, so I always knew there was an artistic side of me, and my family always nurtured it. But I was rebellious and would always insist that I didn’t want to be in art classes, for some reason. But my mom saw through that and helped me convince the AP art teacher at my high school to let me draw in the back room of her classroom. I stuck to drawing for a couple years after that, I wouldn’t say I began painting until I dropped out of college and started traveling as a model. I would bring my little oil paint kit and small canvases all over. It was during those years that I really developed the drive and practice for painting that I have now.
Gotya. I’m going to ask you about your paintings now. I know you’ve got a love for pshychology. But in what way? Is it human behaviour? Or more like thriller movies? And is it somehow reflected in your paintings? If so, how?
I studied psychology in college for the period I was there, I think being a lonely child nurtured an interest in watching people interacting with one another. I guess I wanted to figure something out about why they treated one another in all the ways they did. My paintings now definitely have a relational aspect to them, much of my work includes couples, or groups, or a solo figure who is portraying some sort of emotional attempt to connect. Psychology is so broad, I love to learn about it and it really inspires most of the concepts in my work. As for a film aspect, that’s something that people bring up to me often, and growing up with a limited exposure to tv, I’m not well versed in film at all. But my paintings have often included motifs that I’ve learned have double meanings in horror films and films in general. I think that’s pretty cool, but I can’t act like it was entirely intentional.
With that in mind. The women in your paintings tend to be nude or partially nude, while the male or non-female figures are often clothed. What’s the story there?
Through every painting I’ve made, there’s always a narrative of womanhood that pokes through, even if that wasn’t my intention. I think I made a few works where I really tried to shed some of that, but to no avail. So I embrace it, and i make many of the women in my world nude for a few reasons. For one thing, I think that as a woman, wearing clothes doesn’t stop anyone from trying to look through them, making assumptions about a woman whether it’s looking at her as sexual, valuable or vulnerable. But I also like for the women in my paintings to be the first figures you see, hence nudity. It’s shocking but also not shocking at all. It gives them a sense of importance and brings them to the forefront of the work, which mirrors their importance in my life and in the world in general.
I know some of them are self portraits, But who are the other characters?
Over Covid, I found myself painting a lot of distinctly self inspired portraits, partially because of the isolating factor of quarantine and my limited ability to get any reference material that didn’t include me. But I don’t want to be solely a self-portrait artist, I want to create work that looks at people, women, etc, as a whole entity. Although, my face and body sneaks into my work all the time, and I let it, because that’s my intuitive understanding of figuration. And the beauty of art, is that it always passes through the hands of the artist, inevitably having traces of my own experiences inside them.
I’m curious about your creative process. Can you walk me through it, from start to end result, and what you aim to convey.
My paintings start as sketches, pencil or pen. Often they begin as completely free drawings, not inhibited by reference photos or any other guides. Once the idea and composition are looking right, I spend a while tightening them up. This is where I’ll use reference material if needed. From there, a few color studies are done, either on my phone or with some color blocking with acrylic paint. Finally, I’ll project my tightest sketch onto my canvas and then spend a few days layering with acrylic paint. This is my favorite part- because I can see where the painting is going- but I use the acrylic paint to create the most fun, free, and textured moments in the surface. Finally, I’ll apply oil where it’s needed. Some pieces require no oil and some need a lot. I try not to tie myself completely to my original idea when it comes to finishing the painting. But I always have a pretty clear path to where I want it to end up.
Let’s take a small break from the serious questions, and let me ask you this. Imagine you were born in the 1700s. What do you think you would be doing?
I hate to be a downer but I probably would’ve been sold as some sort of ….. child bride? But in my fantasy, I would take care of rich people’s horses. or something where I can be with animals and living in a rich persons house. I don’t want the responsibility of a rich person in the 1700s, but I do want the luxury of a feather bed. I’m not a good sleeper, so a straw bed is just not going to cut it.
Haha, I feel you! Ok, back to the regular schedule. So what are some of the most essential things you have to have with you in the studio? It could be anything, music, objects etc..
I eat dark chocolate covered almonds literally every day, I think if i stopped at this point my body would implode. Also coffee, I have at least two a day at the studio. My grandma has passed down a serious collection of art books and magazines to me, and I love to tear the pages out as inspiration for my work, I couldn’t imagine my studio without them. Of course I need a sketchbook at all times as well. And a pen, I prefer to sketch with pen. My painting uniform is a pair of dickies pants or overalls, a white Hanes tank and my beloved crocs. And I love music but I think I listen to more audiobooks and podcasts than anything, I prefer long-form media in the studio so I can focus better.
Warm and tanned colors are a recurring thing in your paintings. Talk to me a little bit about your approach to color.
Some of my paintings tend to come off as ominous, or foreboding. I love warm, glowing colors. To me it invites the viewer in, and counterbalances the subjects of my work, who can have a coldness to them. I also gravitate towards saturated work, I always have. My philosophy is like, colors can be so bright and striking, it would be a waste to not try and use them.
Your current show at Scott Miller Projects, is titled “Trust Fall”. I’m curious about how you came up with that title. Can you tell me a little bit about the story behind that?
The title wasn’t decided until all the works were completed, because I wanted the title to tie all the works to one another. The works in “Trust Fall” all have a foreboding feeling, and I wanted them to live in the brief, still moments before something bad inevitably happens. As I created the paintings, I realized that something I always find myself exploring through my work is the dangers of trust, and the downsides of vulnerability. I thought of how much time and effort we spend, as people, attempting to build some sort of security or safety in a dangerous and unpredictable world. Each painting depicts a different way that we can put up defensive walls and those walls can be torn down by life and love, hurting us in the process.
Ok, now to something totally different… How would you describe a perfect day?
A perfect day for me is not far from my usual routine, i know that’s corny. But I would maybe ask for some good weather and a walk with a friend or my mom to be included. Another version of a perfect day for me would be one where I lay, vegetative, for 24 hours and no one says anything to me.
Ok Kathryn. I usually fire off these last two questions at the end of the interview. I don’t know why, but I’m always curious about them.. The first one is. Who’s your Favorite artist(s) dead or alive?
Right now, I’ve been really attracted to Käthe Kollwitz. Since I’ve been looking at her work, and the way she depicts pain in the body, and particularly in the hands and arms, my paintings haven’t been the same.
The second is. What songs do you have in rotation right now?
I grew up listening to metal and 2000s rock music, lately I’ve found that nothing narrates my painting process better than a slightly softer version of that. A lot of chevelle, Pearl Jam, audioslave. And those are just the non-embarrassing ones. But when I need to relax I love Tom petty, jack white, My Morning Jacket, to name 3/1,000,000. But if you hear Lana Del Rey coming from the studio, it’s best to not disturb me.
