Meet Katie Kirk

Today we’re excited to be connecting with Katie Kirk again. If you haven’t already, we suggest you check out our prior conversation with them here.

Katie, always such a pleasure connecting with you and thank you for sharing your stories, insights and inspiring messages with our community. We’re looking forward to getting the download and what you have been up to since our last interview, but first can you briefly introduce yourself to folks who might have missed the prior conversation.
I’m an artist based in Los Angeles. My work explores materiality, gesture, and the physicality of the body. I create abstract paintings and ceramic sculptures that reflect movement, transformation, and impermanence. My paintings are built through a layered process of transferring acrylic paint skins, pouring, and collaging, while my ceramic sculptures take on organic, bodily forms that reference postures like twisting, leaning, or folding.

A core part of my practice is the relationship between the body and material. Whether it’s the direct impression of my hand in clay or the way paint moves across a surface through full-body gestures, my work is a record of process and physical interaction. Lately, I’ve been incorporating silicone body molds, inspired by my own experience of pregnancy and postpartum transformation, as a way of documenting change over time.

I earned my MFA in Painting and Drawing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2016. Over the years, I’ve continuously pushed my practice forward, exploring new techniques and larger forms. Recently, I took Julia Haft-Candell’s Big Build workshop, which has allowed me to scale up my ceramic work in ways I never could before. I currently have work in a show at Heaven Gallery in Chicago with a collective of mother artists and am preparing for an upcoming two-person show with Daniela Campins, curated by Trina Turturici.

Awesome, so we reached out because we wanted to hear all about what you have been up to since we last connected.
Right now, I’m in an exciting period of expansion and experimentation in my work. Learning large-scale modular ceramic techniques has completely shifted my approach—I used to feel limited by kiln size and what I could physically carry, but now I’m pushing into much larger sculptural forms. It’s been a process of trial and error—one of my first large-scale pieces collapsed right after I made it, but that failure led me to rethink structure and balance, which has strengthened my approach.

Another exciting development in my practice is my use of silicone body molds. This started during my second pregnancy as a way to document the transformation of my body over time, and it has since evolved into a broader exploration of form, memory, and material. These molds have added a new layer to my work, allowing me to incorporate more direct impressions of the body into both my sculptures and paintings.

Beyond the studio, I’m thrilled about my upcoming two-person show with Daniella Campins. It’s always exciting to see how different practices interact in a shared space, and I’m looking forward to how our work will come together under Trina Turturici’s curation. I also have a piece in a show at Heaven Gallery in Chicago, which is particularly meaningful because it’s with a collective of mother artists—a community I feel deeply connected to as I navigate the balance between art, work, and family.

We have now arrived at one of our favorite parts of the interview – the lightning round. We’ll ask you a few quick questions to give us all some fun insights about you.

Favorite Book: Invisible Women by Caroline C. Perez

Sweet or Savory: Sweet

Mountains or Beach: Mountains

Favorite Sport (to watch): Volleyball

Did you play sports growing up (if so which ones): Volleyball, Soccer, basketball, track and field

As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up: Artist

What do you want people to remember about you and your brand? What are some of things that you feel are most important, unique, special, etc?
I want people to remember my work as an exploration of movement, material, and transformation—both in the physical sense and in the way our bodies and lives shift over time. I want my work to feel alive—like it’s in a state of flux, always on the edge of becoming something else.

My goal is for people to feel a sense of physicality when they experience my work. The scale, textures, and colors are all meant to engage the senses—to feel almost bodily in their presence. Whether it’s the weight and density of ceramics or the fluid, layered surfaces of my paintings, I want viewers to connect with the work on a visceral level. There’s an element of play and pleasure in the way I work with material, and I hope that comes through in how the pieces are experienced.

On a personal level, I hope my practice speaks to the experience of balancing creative work with the realities of life—being a mother, an artist, and a working professional all at once. I think there’s something powerful in acknowledging that art isn’t separate from life but deeply intertwined with it. That’s something I try to embody in both my work and my approach to making it.

Website: https://www.katienicolekirk.com

Instagram: @katiekirkstudio