Katy Drury Anderson
ARTISTIST STATMENT
My passion to preserve our environment and promote social justice frequently inspires my creativity. My pieces often begin with a visceral response to an act of injustice or the destruction of our natural world and explode into artistic social commentary. However, a butterfly in flight or a spectacular sunset can also spark my desire to interpret and share my perspective through art.
I have explored a variety of media including Japanese paper-making, shibori dying, photo-transferring on fabric, repurposing materials, and knotless netting. But in 2009, I become passionate about felting wool. Similar to paper making, felting transforms natural fibers through the use of water and fibrous interaction. My exploration of wet and dry techniques, laminating gauzy silks to the wool fibers, inlaying embellishments, and blending colored fleece, enables me to create painterly fabrics, wall art, and exciting three-dimensional forms.
As an Obstetrical nurse for four decades, I was entrusted with assisting women in the most awe-inspiring form of creation. Similar to the process of creating life, felting requires strength, calculation, patience, and a sensitive connection to the subtle transformation of the material. It is no coincidence that my passion for maternity nursing and felting wool share a tactile, rhythmic, spiritual, and water-dependent nature.
Life is so precious. Through my art, I hope to convey my deep appreciation for our “life force” and I invite the viewer to share in the wonder I experience as an artist and protector of life in all forms.
One Love, One Heart: Felted Merino wool, wet and needle-felted technique on linen. 35" x 31" x 4"
Dylan: wet and needle-felted merino wool on linen, 36” x 24”
They Forgot We Are Seeds: wet and needle felted merino wool, gauze, embroidery, glass beads, 26” x 36”
One Ocean, Many Waves: wet-felted wool, lyocell, and silk on linen, 36” x 48”
Sausalito Sunset: wet-felted merino wool, silk gauze, lace, ribbon on linen, 27” x 46”
Caution - Mermaid Crossing: knotless netted copper wire, glass beads, copper mesh, copper wire armature, 26” X 15” x 20”
Illumination: wet-felted merino wool, silk, metallic thread, lyocell, foam, fiberglass rod armature, 22” x 20” x 20”
Fleeting: hand-dyed silk felted with merino wool, 70” x 36” x 20”
Mother, Mother Ocean: merino wool, lyocel, felted on hand-dyed silk, glass beading, plastic debris underskirt, 60” x 34” x 50” (Award of Excellence, California State Fair, “Most Unusual Wearable,” SFAC, Second Place, “Green” Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Third Place, Marin County Fair)
Horizons: wet felted merino wool and silk on linen, 36” x 48” x 2”
Justice for All: naturally distressed American flag, phototransfer on tea-stained silk organza, needle felted mouths, 40”x 30” x 2”
Mouth Off!: Needle-felted wool mouths screaming from a naturally distressed American flag on linen. 32" x 60" x 2”
Stain of a Nation: naturally distressed vintage American flag, embroidered with George Floyd’s dying words, on linen, 36” x 48” x 2”
Womb With a View: wet and needle felted wool pods depicting stages of fertility, copper tubing, 72” x 72” x 36”