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Katharine Ferns, Histories, acrylic on canvas, 48 x 48 inches, 2011

Katharine Ferns, Histories, acrylic on canvas, 48 x 48 inches, 2011	Katharine Ferns, In-Between, Oil on canvas, 48x36inches, 2010	Katharine Ferns, Re-Integration, Oil on canvas, 48 x 24 inches, 2010	Katharine Ferns, Weaving, Oil on panel, 36 x 48 inches, 2010
Katharine Ferns, Transmuted No. 1, Oil on board, 35 x 20 inches, 2010	Katharine Ferns, Landscape, oil on canvas, 48 x 24 inches, 2010	Katharine Ferns, Illuminated No. 3, oil on canvas, 36 x 12 inches, 2010	Katharine Ferns, Became the Air, oil on canvas, 36 x 24 inces, 2010
Katharine Ferns, What Remains, Hand-felted wall hanging, Diptych: 54x26 inches, 50x23 inches, 2010	Katharine Ferns, Torn, Graphite on paper, 24 x 36 inches, 2009

My work focuses on the construction of identity through our remembering and the mis-remembering of the past. Our conceptions of the past, whether vivid or distorted, form our current mythologies and perceptions of ourselves. My work questions how identity is constructed when memory is disconnected, repressed or absent. Some events of the past are stored as sensory fragments without a coherent narrative or semantic guide within the mind and held as body memory under the skin. I focus on how the body holds events from the past that cannot be expressed through language. Using the visual imagery of the figure, I am questioning whether tacit communication of the body is possible in my paintings.

In my work I am attempting to communicate this state of being beyond language and this state of being dissociated from language, the body and sense of self. The layering of imagery is a reoccurring element in my work, as the figures remain unresolved despite the attempts of reconstruction. This relates to the healing process that produces not only physical scaring but also involves the re-conception of self. The figures remain fragmented to communicate this state of experiencing multiple layers of memory that do not resolve into a coherent narrative required by society.

EDUCATION:

2009-2012 Painting Major, Emily Carr University of Art and Design, Vancouver, BC

2008-2009 First Year Studies, Alberta College of Art and Design, Calgary, AB

2002-2004 Art History, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC

EXHIBITIONS:

2011 The Autists Gala, Art Auction curated by Charlie Pachter, Koerner Hall, Toronto, ON

2010 Katharine Ferns and Sarah Holmes, Corridor Collective, Canmore, AB

2010 Fabrication, Concourse Gallery, Emily Carr University of Art and Design, Vancouver, BC

COMMISSIONS:

2011 The Property Brothers, Episode “Katherine & Jordan”

PUBLICATIONS:

2012 We Knit Graffiti, Magda Sayeg (knittaplease), Lark Books

AWARDS:

2011 John David Carr Memorial Scholarship
2011 Gwyn and Aileen Gunn Bursary
2010 Jack and Doris Shadbolt Scholarship
2010 Henry Boyer de la Giroday Memorial Scholarship
2010 Gwyn and Aileen Gunn Bursary

Katharine Ferns’ work is part of collections across Canada and the United States.