katie detemple | artist statement
water sky: dull neutral-colored sky near the horizon caused by the reflection of the color of the sea and so indicating open water when seen over an ice-covered sea.
Water is complex. It is boundless, vital, and limitless in its human associations. It represents both loss and blessing, as it has the ability to drown, to wear away stone, to rust metal; yet it makes up most of our bodies, and is essential to life. Given time, water can make anything disappear. It exists everywhere, simultaneously. Water cycles through the atmosphere, the Earth, and us. Some water incites fear. When I stand before an ocean I both want to jump in and am afraid that I will. I think ‘what would happen if I did?’ Depending on who you ask, it takes anywhere from 60 seconds to 30 minutes to drown. I wonder what it would feel like to be far under the surface, but it is not a question that I will ever answer (such water is better considered from the shore).
In my practice, I work with alternative process photography, landscape, and rebellion, and utilize concepts of identity, the ephemeral, repetition, and process. I look inward to convey my experiences with depression, rumination, and dissociation. As well as communicating a sense of displacement and transition; as to me, this is what water represents.
Katie DeTemple (b. 1992, Prescott, AZ) is located in Portland, OR. Her practice is based in alternative process photography, analog processes, and printmaking. She received her BFA in photography from the University of Montana and is currently a candidate for her MFA in Visual Studies at Pacific Northwest College of Art. Katie’s work has been shown in multiple venues in both Montana and Oregon, including the University of Montana’s Gallery of Visual Art and University Center Gallery and PNCA’s Lodge Gallery and Glass Gallery. She has exhibited internationally at Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen, Germany, at NES in Skagaströnd, Iceland, and at Deiglan Gallery in Akuyeri, Iceland. Katie completed an Artist in Residence program at NES in Skagaströnd, Iceland in March of 2018 and the Caldera Arts Artist in Residence program in Sisters, OR in October of 2019.
Website: katiedetemple.com Instagram: @katiedetemple Contact: info@katiedetemple.com