Interview: Katye Terry
Katye Terry’s work examines the literal and figurative boundaries of the body. Through photography, video, collage, installation and object-making, she unravel issues of illness, family, memory, longing and loss. As a queer woman living with a cluster of auto-immune diseases, she is interested in both making the invisible illness visible and finding beauty in pain and restriction. Most recently, she is interested in exploring radical inter-dependency and love, particularly through the dream of communal, poly and d/s relationships. Terry pieces together materials that are imprinted with the shape of the body such as socks, gloves, and her own skin with materials like shower curtains, balloons and fashion magazines . The patchwork of these materials form a personal language that speaks to the fuzzy intersection of her personal desires and feminine cultural expectations. Kayte studied Art History and Women’s Studies at Simon’s Rock College of Bard and received her MFA in Studio Art at University of the Arts. She has also studied abroad with the School for International Training in Fortaleza, Brazil and at the Santa Reparata International School of Art in Florence, Italy. Kayte has been in group shows across the country, including the show Adorned: Beauty in Excess at Joy Pratt Markham Gallery at the Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville, AK. She recently had a yearlong installation at the Zuckerman Museum of Art at Kennesaw State University in conversation with Louise Bourgeois. Most recently, Kayte has been a visiting artist in grad programs at Mass Arts in Boston, MA, University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA and UPenn in Philadelphia, PA. Kayte hosts two podcasts about art, theory and queerness, Fangs for the Memories (a Buffy the Vampire Slayer podcast) and Tender Subject (a podcast about cannibalism and body horror in the arts).
Read our interview with Katye below!
Install view of A Rinse of Past Lives, 2021
PP: Walk us through a typical day in your studio or generally through your process to make new work.
KT: I have a day job as a display and installation artist so I get to be creative daily but sometimes that makes working on my own practice difficult! Currently I don’t have a large studio so I set up a space in our guest room and I’m focusing on collage work. Collage is an excellent medium because it’s inexpensive and doesn’t require a lot of space or special tools. Even when I had a large studio for sculpture and installation, collage was my drawing practice.
Right now, I’m working on a series of collages loosely inspired by my podcast Tender Subject, which is about cannibalism and body horror in art. I’ve been using old medical journals a lot in my work so I flip through those and all the other weird ephemera I keep around. Then I just start cutting and piecing things together! It’s very experimental and intuitive until a composition starts forming and then I get more focused. A beautiful thing about collage is that, if a different composition starts to emerge, you can cut up the piece! It’s just paper!
To Sleep In The Marrow, 2021
from the Poked and Pinned series, 2016
PP: What motivates you to make art?
KT: I grew up in a family of artists and I’ve been making things my entire life so it’s hard to even know! But lately, I do a lot of reading for my podcast, often dense theory and philosophy and it’s an excellent way for me to express the FEELING of a complex theory. I have always made extremely embodied work; I have a few chronic illnesses and I have always tried to understand my body through my art. Part of the understanding of course is that I will never get answers but art can be messy just like me.
PP: Is community something you value in your practice? Why or why not?
KT: Community is hugely important for me as an artist, even though some of my practice is fairly solitary. I live in Philly which has a thriving DIY art scene and I’ve been in collectives, I’ve collaborated on work with other artists, I’ve made banners and props for community activist groups like Spiral Q and Save the Meadows. There’s an incredible yearly parade in West Philly called Peoplehood, run by Spiral Q and last year I made a bunch of bats and bird masks with a group of folks to bring attention to a meadow that was going to be destroyed in South Philly. With collaborative work I try to tamp down my artist ego though; I’m making work with people of all skill levels and it’s not my vision, it’s a collective vision!
My thesis work in grad school used old socks, underwear and undershirts hand-dyed and sewn. I have a sock puppet hanging on my studio wall that I made when I was probably 5 or so and it always makes me smile, because I’ve always been making weird things! A lot of adults hang that up at some point and one of my greatest joys as an artist is the constant wonder of being creative.
installation view of And What Rough Beasts, 2017
PP: What is a favorite hobby outside of art practice?
KT: Bird watching! I got into birds during COVID lockdown, like so many others and I can’t get enough of it. Nature is extremely therapeutic for me and honing my bird watching skills has brought a lot more patience and stillness to my life. You really have to stop, look and listen; birds are hard to find but once you SEE them, you start seeing a new world of detail! I remember the first time I saw a Red Winged Blackbird for instance: I’ve lived in the Northeast my entire life and I never noticed that flying all around me are blackbirds with red and gold banded wings! How had I not noticed that?! So, I think bird watching has greatly improved my observation skills and my patience.
To learn more about Kayte’s work, see her Instagram and Website.