We had the good fortune of connecting with Katie Southworth and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Katie, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
I have always been a risk-taker. From extreme sports throughout my youth, to investing in intensive masters degree programs, and now pursuing art full time, I love the feeling of challenging myself and getting the most out of life. With high risk comes high reward, and even when you fail you still get the gift of learning, improving, and heading into your next risk with more insight.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.

Thank you! My art is all about harnessing the power of color to spread joy, hope, and wellness, and to manifest a brighter, mentally healthier future for all. I am always exploring new materials and compositions to share the joy, energy, and transformative power of color. Color is my language that I use to do everything from change moods, elicit memories, tell stories, and visualize the future. My mission is inspired by and in honor of my mom, who I lost to suicide in 2015.

What are you most proud of? What sets you apart?

I’m most proud of my ability to tell stories with my art, both visually and with accompanying statements of my creative writing. I think this sets me apart because through this practice I’m able to reach existing abstract art lovers as well as those who might not resonate with it yet. They’ve told me that it gives them a starting point to engage with it. It helps facilitate more human connection than visuals can on their own.

Why did you start pursuing your art professionally? Was it easy? What helped you overcome challenges?

I started pursuing art professionally during the pandemic, so no, it was not easy!! But covid taught us that life was short, and I didn’t want to live a life of regret for not realizing my full potential. I think the keys to overcoming the inundation of challenges surrounding my complete career 180 at age 27, (social isolation, extreme vulnerability, and financial way-finding) were a short-term memory, trial and error, perseverance, staying true to myself, and trusting in the process. Taking things one step at a time, letting go of plans, being open to learning, and being willing to be bad at something while I learned how to be good.. all of that was and still is essential.

What do you want the world to know from you and your work?

I want the world to know three things from me, my art, and my story. 1.) It is possible to create a happy, healthy life for yourself after experiencing trauma. 2.) Color is an unsung hero when it comes to powerful tools for expression and joy. 3.) No one is alone in the crushing reality of surviving loss to suicide, and we are all part of the solution for a world without it.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are so many people I could shout out who have played major supportive roles in getting me where I am today. But I would like to shoutout 3 people: my parents and my professor. My mom’s enduring spirit inspires me everyday to spread visions of hope and joy and manifest a brighter, mentally healthier future for all with my art. My dad, who I’m lucky to still have, has always supported my pursuit of all things artistic over the course of my life. I couldn’t have made the leap to pursue art full time if he hadn’t empowered me to trust my gut and follow creative passions. My painting professor, Bevin, from Colby, taught me how to use color as a language. She taught me how to respect it, learn from it, and control it in a way that made sense and empowered me for a lifelong curiosity and career with it.

Website: https://www.katiesouthworthart.com/

Instagram: @katiesouthworth_art

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ksouthworth14/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Katie-Southworth-Art/100028371893754/

Image Credits
Matt Moloney and Grounded Management

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.