Kathy Weaver

My work consists of paintings, drawings and fiber work where the subject matter is often the interface of technology and humans. Often fantastical, highly colored and patterned, the work reflects a wry take on questions of militarism, morality, racism, and greed. Often using the actions of robots as a metaphor for human behavior I explore boundaries of good and evil. In a recent series of 30 paintings called Origin Stories, I developed a cast of characters in an ongoing saga about the boundaries of good and evil. Currently I am working on large, singular figures that are Avatars, extensions of our own inclinations.

In the series “Origin Stories” two characters, a winged robot and a bullet-headed robot, are more than metaphors. They are the driving force in the narrative. Bullethead and The Winged One are the central figures in a battle of good vs. evil. We can see in them the familiar brawl of right and wrong and all the accompanying complexities that struggle entails. In this world we examine how these characters either escalate or resolve their conflicts. The series “Avatars” features figures in gouache on handmade Twinrocker paper, 40” x 14”. Avatars focuses attention on particular behaviors in this time of racial inequality, cultural upheaval, climate change, pandemic, and the deepening economic divide.

Weaver trained at the University of Cincinnati, receiving her M.A. in painting from Bowling Green State University. She has received fellowships at the Banff Centre for the Arts, Ragdale Foundation, Hambidge Center for the Arts, Brush Creek Foundation and has taught at Arrowmont. She studied in Jogjakarta, Indonesia and at the Institute for European Studies and the Art Academy of Vienna. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. Three quilts in a series, “Guns Are Us”, are in the permanent collection of the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City.

Photography by Tom Van Eynde