Meet Kathryn Gohmert | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kathryn Gohmert and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kathryn, how do you think about risk?
In art, I believe people can sense when you’re authentically taking risks and when you’re playing it safe.

I’ve learned to listen to my instincts, what we call in German ein Bauchgefühl. If there is even a little fear present, there is something worth leaning into and developing. What has turned into some of my best work, for example, was developed or performed when I felt I had the most to lose.

The series of paintings and drawings I’m developing now is about how fear and how the awareness of danger affects our brains.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My work focuses mainly on initiating and marking moments of connection and interaction with the outside world, most recently through painting, objects and performance.

After being affected by temporary blindness, memory and mapping the brain’s processes became increasingly important for me. My work then seeks to highlight the power the mind plays in forming its reality.

My paintings of the brain are studies of the stimuli by which we experience the world. I use symbols to create their own code as they point out roots and causes, trying to mimic the brain’s own process of sense-making on canvas. Which means the words and symbols people see on canvas are largely nonsensical, having been reconstructed from actual scientific labels and equations to build a meaning that is purely visual.

Originally, I moved to China after finishing my studio art degree at UT Austin, which was well worth it but a challenge. I felt like there were ways I could develop my art and practice that I would only learn there and I followed my instincts, however jarring and uncomfortable it was at first (especially learning Mandarin). After living in Shanghai for about 6 years I eventually moved to Berlin, again, mainly because I had a feeling, based on the things I was learning, people I was meeting and way the world was changing, that there were things I would only learn there. I’ve had my studio based in Germany for almost 9 years now and have learned so much, eventually starting an artist collective, Gonzomechanics, and finally geting an MFA at Bauhaus Universität. I really believe there are ways we can only develop as people when we are uncomfortable and challenged. Relocating was very helpful to me in that way.

One of the most important things I’ve learned is to stay humble and to continuously make room for wonder. And learning other languages is such a valuable way of staying humble, in learning how little we know. This is also what draws me in so closely to science in my art: the wonder of how little we actually know about our universe (in quantum physics, for example) and our own minds (in neuroscience).

It is so easy to lose our sense of wonder with the world as we get older, it is natural as we age. This is what I want people to take from my work above everything: a reconnection with a sense of wonder. We will never know everything.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would recommend the Tin District to people for seeing experimental local art and getting to know a more bohemian side of the city. There are so many incredible artist studios and developing spaces in the area.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I wouldn’t be anywhere without my friends in the creative community. My artist friends both challenge and support me. It is so important to have both encouragement and accountability as an artist and I will forever be grateful for them. Special thanks to Lisa Horlander especially, for encouraging me to explore the Dallas creative community.

Website: https://www.kathryngohmert.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kathryn_gohmert_studio/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gohmertkathryn/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/k_gohm

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kathryngohmertgongmingzhu/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htyREcF148I&t=4s