Kathryn Zazenski


Fe.G, Cast Iron, 4.5' x 2" x 2", 2008-
	I started making this piece almost a year ago, with only the repeated fungus-inspired form in my mind. Something about these shapes struck me, I worked it over and over in SOUND for months. Making it became an intimately labored experience, I was frustrated by not knowing where it was headed but comforted by not having to direct my hands. I caught a segment on NPR one morning about new research being done with human hair. The scientists talked about how water isotopes leave a marked residue in the strands of our hair. Water in every area around the world has its own unique isotopic weight, and so when ingested, allows our hair to become a record of our movements. It forms a traceable timeline that can link us to specific points in the world at specific times. I was blown away to hear this. Such a benign yet simultaneously vital activity now also serves as a signifier of time and place.


Untitled, Study for Pistil, Bronze, 2008-
	Currently this piece is composed of 100 1.5" bronze castings. I am curious about forms that are a part of a whole, but then what happens when they become parts of something greater. I like thinking about how the functionality changes with the form, and the potential for it to grow infinitely.

Found Objects, Bronze, 5.5" x 2" x 1"(body), 2" x 1.5" x 1.5" (head), 2005

This piece is an exploration in story and thought. I find it very interesting how the impact and importance of a piece, and our relationship to it, often times hinges on how it is presented. Most specifically artifacts in museums. The level of power and relevance is told to us; this is past, this is to be regarded, this is fact. I like the idea of separation that is created. We look at these pieces, we don't necessarily experience them. So we create stories, we imagine; we attempt to put them in a context that relates to us. We take these "facts" and twist them into something potentially miles from what they are, but that's what is so fantastic about seeing things in this way. It is also the cycle of the stories that we create that is really exciting, we give these objects life and in return we are fueled by new thoughts and ideas of what could have been, and what is to be.

Untitled, Study for Circuit, Bronze, 8.5" x 2" x 1.5", 2007-

The eight spokes of the Dharmacakra represent the noble eightfold path of Buddhism. The psychologist Timothy Leary created a theory in the 1960's suggesting eight levels of human consciousness. Currently, there is research being done on the possibility of tentacle dominance in octopi. Somehow, seemingly disparate pieces of information come together and begin to have a shared relevance. This piece is being influenced by this information, as well as my effort in understanding the need to link everything together.