Katie Caron Exhibition

"Mending"

RMCAD faculty member Katie Caron shares her personal story of pain, frustration, rehabilitation, and healing with a show of her new work in the Rude Gallery.

A little over a year ago, Katie suffered a near-fatal accident when a half-ton partition fell on her as she was helping to prepare for an exhibition. Having just received her Master of Arts degree, Katie was laid up in hospitals and nursing homes for the next four months as she endured intense rehab—learning to sit in a wheelchair before she eventually learned to walk again.

During her recovery process, Katie started drawing. Normally a sculpture or installation artist, she turned to the materials that were available to her and eventually created the pieces that make up Mending. Each of the drawings represents a distinct phase of Katie's recovery both mentally and physically, evolving from paper crushed in frustration, to images produced at a height accessible by her wheelchair, and eventually to more complex compositions as she was able to stand and move around again.

Each is on a type of glassine paper, which symbolizes both the fragility of our physical bodies and the resilience of spirit. They are installed in such a way that they move with the slightest breeze, adapting to their environment in much the same way that Katie adapted to her situation.

Katie teaches in RMCAD's Fine Arts and Art Education departments on the topics of sculpture and the psychology of creativity. She splits her time between campus and her thriving studio and has exhibited her work heavily throughout Colorado. Most recently her work appeared in Colorado Clay 2010, a juried exhibition at the Foothills Art Center in Golden.

Opening Reception
Friday, June 25, 5 – 8 pm