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contact name: Kate Christopher
phone: 651-653-1553
email: katechristopher@comcast.net

Related Organizations:
River Valley Arts Council
White Bear Arts Council
Society of MN Sculptors
American Crafts Council
Mahtomedi School Board
Northern Clay Center

There have been many starts and stops in my career. I have struggled, as many artists do, to make time in my life for art. I made my first welded figurative sculpture as a senior in high school. I have woven being an artist in and around salaried social service and educational jobs, four states and three children. I have had three distinct periods when I have concentrated more on one issue than another and used one medium more than another.

My current series of sculptures began in 1997 when I was able to quit a salaried job with Washington County, build a better studio and begin art making more intensely. The series was first called the "Watchers in the Woods" The figures began as very simple forms and are evolving into more detailed and sculptural forms.

The majority of the figures are hand built out of raku clay. The surface is buffed and covered with a terrasigiliata clay slip when they are still green (unfired). The sculptures are then bisque fired in an electric kiln to stabilize the form and vitrify the clay. The final firing is in a gas kiln packed with sawdust and other junk that leaves the markings on the clay as it burns. The sheen on the pieces is caused by a combination of the buffing process and the salt that is added during the firing process. This process has many names but I call it low fire salt fuming.

I enjoy working in the studio with the clay. Sometimes the mechanics of building a particular form can be frustrating but when it starts to emerge and make sense it can be very exciting. I continue to work primarily with clay because the firing process intrigues me. It is a bit like raising children. You guide them and mold them as best you can but then you send them off into the world and things happen that are beyond your control and those are the things that come back and surprise you. I save bisqued sculptures until I have enough to fill the outside kiln and then I load several months of work into the kiln and light it up. It is a collaboration between me and the fire. It is like life - controlled chaos. You never know quite how everything will turn out but usually interesting things happen and sometimes something incredible is created.

1987 Member's Juried Show
*Grand Prize
1999 Northern Lights Exhibition
* Award of Excellence
2000 Northern Lights Exhibition
*Honorable Mention
2001 MN State Fair
*First Award in Sculpture
2001 Society of MN Sculptors
* Honorable Mention
2002 Stillwater Art Crawl
*Peoples Choice Award
2002 Society of MN Sculptors
*Honorable Mention
2003 Minnesota Sculptors Juried Show
*Special Recognition
2003 Stillwater Art Crawl
* Best in Show
2003 MN State Fair
* Fourth Award in Sculpture
2003 Society of Minnesota Sculptors
*Award of Excellence
2004 Norhtern Lights Exhbition
* Award of Excellence
2004 Society of Minnesota Sculptors
* Best in show
2004 MN State Fair Art Exhibition
* Honorable Mention
2005 Society of Minnesota Sculptors
* Best in Show
2007 MN State Fair Art Exhibition
* Honorable Mention

1987 Bloomington Art Center - Member's Juried Show
1989 Concordia College - One Person Show
1989 Bloomington Art Center - Three Person Show
1999 Unity church - Two Person Show
2000 Northern Lights Exhibition
2000 Anderson Center in Red Wing, Homebrewed Art
2000 MN State Fair Art Show
2000 Hennepin Ave Methodist Church
One Person Show
2001 Sculpture Exhibition Cafe Latte
2001 Minnesota State Fair Fine Art Exhibition
2001 Society of Minnesota Sculptors Show
2002 Stillwater Art Crawl
2002 Studio 211 Show
2002 Society of MN Sculptors Show
2002 Northern Lights Exhibition
2003 Minnesota State Fair Fine Arts Exhibition
2003 Society of Minnesota Sculptors
2004 Minnesota State Fair Fine Arts Exhibition
2004 Anderson Center Art Exhibition
2005 Phipps Center for the Arts in Hudson, WI
2005 Healing Arts Program Exhibition
2006 Unity Church Unitarian in St. Paul
2006 St Croix Valley Art Opener with Studio 211 in Stillwater
2006 "A Moment In Time" Exhibition
with Painter Sheralyn Barnes
2007 Sculpture Scene Show
2008 Bloomington Art Center Exhibition
2008 Art Opener - The St. Croix Valley Fine Art Tour

Premier Gallery, 141 S. 7th St., Minneapolis, MN 55402
Cafe Latte, 850 Grand Ave., St. Paul, MN 55105
Gallery 310, 310 Main Street, Stillwater, MN 55082

Carey, Catherine "Earth, Wind and Fire", Town Life Jan./Feb. 2000
Aerts, Dan Kate Christopher Finds Humanity in Sculpture St. Croix Valley Press June 1st 2000
Fallon, Michael "Earth, Wind & Fire", City Pages Oct. 17 2001
Peck,Joel, "Sculpting the Human Condition", White Bear Press. October 31, 2001
Zahn,Tom, "Kate's Journey, "Highlights & Shadows"
Winter 2004

Country of Citizenship:
United States

Birth Place:
Chicago, IL

Birth Date:
September 23, 1949

Gender:
Female

Active Place:
Mahtomedi

Minnesota County:
Washington

Sculptor

http://www.katechristopher.com 

2004 Fine Arts Exhibition (Ceramics/Glass/Sculpture)