KATHRYN
CÁRDENAS
Master of Fine Arts Painting
Master of Arts in Visual and Critical Studies
Statement
In a world inherently insecure, humans often find themselves seeking solace, hope and moments of transcendence. The world needs beauty, and beauty has the power to transform and influence the lives of people. As an artist, I am interested in the intersection between art, faith, and mystery—offering a relationship through my paintings by evoking a profound aesthetic experience to the viewer. My work explores themes of beauty and the sublime as a pathway to the Divine. I represent these themes through mystical and metaphorical landscapes with figures resembling personal and lived experiences of my own search for beauty, truth, and goodness; finding God in different moments. Thus, my paintings are meant to inspire meditative, contemplative experiences, drawing viewers into an intimate conversation that brings them deeper into and beyond themselves.
My art shows how the spiritual comes to us. My current body of MFA work brings together how light signifies a more profound appreciation of the Lord of Light into this dark, insecure, and broken world. In our busy, globalized, and disconnected society, creating this avenue for viewers to pause and re-connect with their hearts and spirits is essential in my work as an artist. It is my goal to provide an experience of beauty and the sacred to humanity.
I believe that the world needs beauty through art that transcends, moves, inspires, and elevates humanity to the divine. This is what I ultimately aspire and envision my art to be in my lifetime: to add beauty to this world by painting imagery in which weary souls can find respite, joy, reflection, and nourishment in by viewing.
What my time at KCAD meant to me
I must say that I’ve grown academically and intellectually during my time at KCAD. Learning about different theories, scholars, and learning to look at images equipped me with the skillset to interpret visual culture and how these images are being read or received by different societies. The intimate academic setting allowed plenty of opportunity for close interaction and feedback among my professors and peers, enabling graduate students like me to focus on the essentials: personal exploration, research, and peer-review. By understanding how images are interpreted, mediated, or used as signifiers by different cultures gives me a better perspective of how societies function and how we might work together to identify gaps and bridge differences thus addressing challenges going forward.