For this week's Work From Home, we hear from Kate Breakey from inside her studio outside Tucson, AZ. Breakey tells us about her work and how she incorporates materials like pastels and gold leaf into her photo-based work.
"I've been a working artist for more than 40 years. I'm a photographer but I alter images--I guild them, I use encaustic, I hand color, I use all sorts of things like pens or pastel. This process of layering blurs the line between photography and painting, and allows me to express ideas about the natural world and my being a transient creature on a very fragile planet. All of my work is about the natural world, which is a endless source of inspiration."
Like the early practitioners of nature morte or mementos mori paintings and photographs, Kate Breakey embraces death as part of life, understanding their parallels.The resulting images are both startlingly beautiful and arresting, as small creatures and objects gain a heroic status. Breakey was born in Adelaide, South Australia and moved to the United States in 1988. Her work is part of numerous private and public collections including the Museum of Fine Arts (Houston, TX), Museum of Photographic Arts (San Diego, CA) and Austin Museum of Art (Austin, TX).
View more work by Kate Breakey here.
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