Kate Trafeli Greater London, United Kingdom
Kate Trafeli is an American-British abstract expressionist painter currently based in London, her studio is in North London with ArtSpace5. Kate works primarily with acrylic paints, oil pastels and crayon, on both canvas and wood. Kate is represented in the UK by AfterNyne Contemporary; she shows her work there and at selected curated exhibitions, such as The London Art Fair and TOAF London/NY/LA.
Colour synesthesia, symbols/shapes and visible brushstrokes evoke mood and narrative in Kate's works. The fragments visible in her paintings originate out of many avenues: literature and music, architecture, light’s effect on the picture plane. Her practice is grounded in moments and histories from her own and others’ lives, expressed through abstraction and mark making. Kate's paintings seem familiar and yet otherworldly, with the representational components providing touchstones for the viewer while evading definite answers. The resulting ‘story-pictures’ evoke a pull and emotion, causing a resonance between the viewer and her works.
Because Kate has lived most her life between worlds, growing up in the Western United States, a cowgirl who longed for city lights and a sense history, moving on to Boston then to New Orleans, later Los Angeles and onward to London and even further to Northern Italy, she is both an outsider and an intense observer of the world around her.
Kate has synesthesia - a condition in which one sense or feeling is simultaneously perceived by one or more additional senses. In her case, colours signify feelings or memories. ‘Blue’ could signify memory and belonging in the context of a work. A different shade could signify sorrow and longing. Kate explores these concepts in several formats; this results in a dichotomy between her works that resemble storming sea or landscapes and more 'magical realism' works. A merging of the abstract and figurative — normally conflicting ways of ‘seeing’ the world — is therefore a significant aspect of her work.
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Projects and exhibitions
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London Art Fair January 202022/01/2020 — 26/01/2020 Kate's work was shown at the London Art Fair 2020 by After Nyne Contemporary Gallery. |
Business Design Centre, London | Details |
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Desire Lines Solo Show25/04/2019 — 19/05/2019 Solo show of recent works by Kate Trafeli, at After Nyne Contemporary Gallery, Holland Park, London |
After Nyne Contemporary, London | Details |