ARTIST STATEMENT & BIO
Katelynn Tracy is a painter who lives and works in Des Moines, IA. Her work has been shown in physical and digital galleries and zines across the United States, and is known for its instantly arresting nature and intimate voyerism. There is a certain fascination with the macabre that is consistent within her paintings—be it through bold, dark color or unsettling subjects. Tracy sees art as a way to ask viewers a direct question, implicating them in the experience of a piece and encouraging them to question their roles as viewers, and their reactions to her work.
Tracy’s love for psychological art traces back to her childhood growing up in small town Iowa, where she experimented with sculpture and acrylics. She later went on to graduate from Graceland University in Lamoni, IA with a major in Studio Art and a minor is Psychology. Most notably while at Graceland, her work was featured in four student art shows, and she won Best of Show for her piece, “Charred” during her junior year. Composed of sentimental items salvaged from the burnt remains of her home, the project showed boldly the themes that Tracy would later work with.
Tracy’s illustrative yet simplistic style is a reminder that the mundane often hides a morbid reality. Her current work centers around portraying female forms shrouded in wet cloths, a commentary on the hyper-sexualization of femme bodies and the weight of our gaze.