The primary concern of my practice is to better understand our world, that of the here and now, through tactile interaction with the waste of our culture. We live in an unprecedented time of materiality. Human beings, particularly Americans, have never in our history been faced with such an inundation of stuff.
My body of work explores discards and detritus cast aside in the age of the Anthropocene. The labeling of the ‘Anthropocene’ as a geological epoch refers to the current era in which human-made processes have changed the geological record and planetary cycles for climate, ocean, and mineral circulation, among others. Materials of our time, deemed no longer usable, are not actually ‘discarded from the system’. Trash is a human invention; ‘the garbage’ is not a place’. Alongside secondhand economies, there exists a limbo,a margin where matter slips from a designed function out of sight, out of mind. Just as waste streams are hidden, the existential threat of human induced climate change is largely unseen yet somehow acutely felt if one chooses to pay attention. My work seeks a cultural expression filling a deficiency of language and perspective to comprehend this scenario. These objects are place markers of this period in time. Part body in which to relate, part totem and talisman of this age of humanity imagining a regenerative future yet uncharted.
About Kate Rusek
Kate Rusek is a visual artist whose sculpture and installation considers the connectivity between people, material culture, and the natural world through Craft. Influenced by complex natural forms, man-made environmental catastrophes, and societal systems, Rusek assembles highly tactile sculptures that require close inspection and invite inquiry into material history. Her work often transmutes human influenced material into natural forms with a thematic focus on connectivity. The juxtaposition between the natural and the unnatural is a key element to Rusek’s work. The use of synthetic and highly processed elements are of particular interest, especially when one considers their remarkable lifespan and persistence in the natural world. Rusek’s work contrasts industrial excess with delicate hand wrought treatments, as a method of posing questions about perception, history, the valuable, and positing a regenerative future.
Rusek received dual B.F.As from The University of Miami in 2007 and an M.A from Savannah College of Art and Design in 2012. She has exhibited her work at venues throughout New York City including La Bodega Gallery (2017), Chashama Galleries (2015-2017), Governors Island Art Fair (2016), and Portal Art Fair (2016). Her work is in private and public collections including The Chashama Foundation. Additionally, Kate Rusek is a two time Daytime Emmy nominated designer and builder of costumes, puppets, and props with freelance and commercial clients including The Jim Henson Company, NBC Universal, Netflix, and the greater New York City performing arts community.
Rusek is currently based in Queens and works from her Brooklyn studio.
