Katie Korotzer’s 60” x 60” acrylic on canvas painting Open Ended VIII is part of a series of large works she completed during COVID-19 quarantine. She used elements of writing and the soaking method of paint application invented by artist Helen Frankenthaler to complete the piece.
The Lamorinda Arts Council invites you to view a virtual exhibit of paintings by artist Katie Korotzer during the month of September in the online Art Gallery at Wilder at www.lamorindaarts.org/online-galleries.
Korotzer, of Orinda, a candidate for the Certificate in Painting at UC Berkeley Extension, has been doing art since childhood. “Art has always been a way for me to express myself. I’m always experimenting when I’m in the studio, and through my art I can bring forth my fears, my joy, my thoughts and feelings,” she said.
During the COVID-19 quarantine, she created paintings on very large (5’ x 5’) pieces of unstretched raw canvas. Her theme, “Open Ended,” explores the fact that despite our best plans, life throws the unexpected in our paths.
“During the pandemic I traveled back and forth to Georgia to help out with a family member who had been ill. The sense of distance, the loss of control over my daily environment during such a dangerous time and the feeling of entering into the unknown territory of illness gave me a lot to process when I was able to paint in my studio,” Korotzer said.
She uses pastels, acrylic paint on a brush and sometimes paints with her hands directly on the canvas. “The most important thing about my artwork is that it is emotionally expressive through the use of mark-making, related to writing, and especially through the use of color,” said Korotzer. If you examine the thin red elongated lines and green marks in “Open Ended VIII,” a 60” x 60” acrylic painting on canvas, you will see the calligraphic marks she references.
For more about Korotzer’s paintings, visit www.katiekorotzer.net, follow her on Instagram @katiekorotzer or view her work at the Jennifer Perlmutter Gallery in Lafayette.
For more information about the Lamorinda Arts Council, visit www.lamorindaarts.org. The Art Gallery at Wilder is virtual because the Gallery is closed due to COVID-19 restrictions. Contact Curators Denise Nomura and Aniston Breslin at wildergallery@lamorindaarts.org.
