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Artist Statement  

Through the reinvention of traditional heritage craft and graphic design in the context of contemporary media, my work challenges the norms of creative expression and critical thinking. My studio is a place-based field station, allowing me to practice publicly. I am exploring the concept of waste while contemplating the question: “What could we do with nothing?” 
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To answer this question I experiment with zero-waste practices, material reuse, and document spaces of social or ecological destruction. My vision is a unique, human-powered experiment, strengthening communities by promoting engaged citizenship and knowledge as a creative capital. The purpose is to agitate and activate public space. fostering an awareness of local ecology, I act as a citizen-artist to organize.

 

I aim to establish new formats for exchange in response to social and political systems that constrain education, food justice, and ecological stewardship. Cooperation, empowerment, and honesty are leveraged in the process of activating knowledge at the intersection of resources, generosity, and access. My practice finds assets and capital to embody a public practice, open and accessible, responding to barriers of privilege, policy locality, and mobility.

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The resulting narrative is evident in the stories I convey.

Education 

2015 - 2018

MFA Interdisciplinary Art, Goddard College

2008 - 2010

MPS Arts and Cultural Manangment, Pratt Institute

2001 - 2005

BFA Graphic Design/Letterform, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

2001 - 2005

BFA Sculpture/3D Studies, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

Awards

2015

GD USA Package Design Awards, eco-kids USA, eco-dough, eco-crayons 

2010

GD USA In-house Design Awards, February Fun Vacation Brochure 

Presenting

2019

MAEA ConferenceMeeting all Learners in a Zero-Waste Art Space

H.A.Y. Conference, Infinity Arts, Zero-Waste Art Space

2018

2018

Thesis Presentation, Balancing Act on a Stream of Consciousness

CAST Free WebinarStories From the Field: Visual Arts & UDL

2017

Mass MEES ConferenceTeaching Seeing: Decoding Ecological Questions Through the Creative Process

Mass School Gardens ConferenceDecoding Ecological Questions Through Visual Literacy

UMass Dartmouth Graphic Design VI Thesis Class, Guest Critic

2015

Community Service Learning Symposium Design for Community Engagement 

Exhibitions 

Solo

2017

Getting to the Point,  Garden House, Goddard College, Plainfield, VT

Consciousness in Space, Goddard Film Festival. Goddard College, Plainfield, VT

2016

Cooking Up Something Out of Nothing, Goddard College, Plainfield, VT

Group

2019

2019

Pollinator Picnic (Residencey), Art in the Park 2019, Elm Park, Worcester,MA

Pollinator Picnic (Residencey), Art in the Park 2019, Elm Park, Worcester,MA

Down side UP, Sprinkler Factory, Worcester, MA

2017

A Matter of Intention, Sprinkler Factory, Worcester MA

2016-17

In Praise of Water, Pratt Gallery, Goddard College, Plainfield, VT

2016

2016

Earth Day Pop-up Exhibition, Riverbend Farm, Uxbridge, MA

Surface: 64 variations on a theme, Sprinkler Factory, Worcester, MA

2016

Kaboom!, Assumption College Gallery, Worcester, MA

2015

Buddhas Over Worcester, Boundless Way, Worcester, MA

I am my own constellation. Design is the telescoping ladder that I keep in my apron.

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As an interdisciplinary eco-artist, I am committed to challenging viewers to confront the impact of human actions on our natural environment. My work inspires social consciousness and sparks memories related to the act of disposal by transforming discarded materials into powerful public works of art. 


My practice is built upon three key methods: interactive fieldwork, arts-based research, and appropriation of industrial processes on a human scale. I use walking and a paddleboard to collect physical artifacts from locations to create site-specific mobile studios and perform acts of maintenance in the spaces where the materials were retrieved. Circularity is a central theme, where I become the mechanism for recycling and repurposing waste as a primary medium to drive the conversation around sustainable practices and the personal protection of our ecosystems.

 © 2021 by kathryn egnaczak

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