Bio

Katherine is a multimedia artist whose practice encompasses a wide range of materials and processes, including book arts, handmade tools, and sculptural assemblages. Her work investigates the interplay between materiality, memory, and transformation, often drawing on natural and found elements to create visual narratives that examine presence, absence, and the passage of time.

Katherine’s background in psychology and art therapy informs her conceptual approach, integrating structure and intuition within a disciplined studio practice. Her work has been exhibited in numerous galleries and is represented in the permanent collection of the University of Wisconsin–Madison Kohler Art Library.

In addition to Katherine’s studio work, she has organized and led art retreats and workshops that emphasize creative exploration and material engagement. Through these endeavors, she continues to cultivate environments that support artistic inquiry, reflection, and the evolution of multidisciplinary practice.

Artist Statement

  I create
        to honor memory
            and silence.

To reveal the unseen
within the everyday,

        and to dwell
    in the space
        between a breath
    and its exhale.

CV

Exhibitions

Sauk Prairie River Arts Center, Solo Show: Crafted Connections: The Art of Handmade Brushes, Artist Books, and Boxes, September 20 – November 30, 2025
UW-Madison Hospital, Bone Folders’ Guild Group Show: August 1-31, 2025
The Pyle Center, Madison, WI, Wisconsin Visual Artist Show: July 2025
The Naturalist Gallery of Contemporary Art, Visionary Exhibition: 2025
The Museum of Wisconsin Art, West Bend, Wisconsin, Member Exhibition: 2024-25, 2018-19, 2017-18, 2016-17
Evanston Art Center, Evanston, Illinois, Studio Exhibition: Tangled, 2023
Old Courthouse Arts Center, Woodstock, IL, Group Exhibition: 2017
Re:Vision Gallery, Kenosha, Wisconsin, Group Exhibition: curated by Gary Warren Niebuhr, 2017.
The Bubbler – Madison, Wisconsin Public Library, Group Exhibition: Curated by Lesley Numbers, 2017
Overture Gallery I, Madison, Wisconsin, Group Exhibition: Curated by Bone Folders’ Guild, 2016-2017
Wisconsin Book Festival: Bone Folders’ Guild Exhibitions:
Overture Galleries, Madison, Wisconsin, “Book Art From a Dog-eared Decade” – 2011
Overture Galleries, Madison, Wisconsin,“Between the Lines: Unspoken Beliefs,” 2010
State Street Gallery, Madison, Wisconsin, “Courage to Create: Courage to Cross Boundaries” – 2009
Kohler Art Library, Madison, Wisconsin, “Changelings: Artists” Books That Transform & Inspire” – 2008
UW Madison Union Theater, Madison, Wisconsin, “Books on the Runway: A Fashion Show of Wearable Books for the Mind and Body,” – 2006
Madison Central Library, Madison, Wisconsin, “Sixty Books Project: Checked-In” – 2005-2006
Kohler Art Library, “A Progressive Conversation Party” 2004
Kohler Art Library, “If Death Were a Woman” – 2004

Edgewood College Student Art Show – 4/94
▪ Contemplation (bench)
▪ Harmony (watercolor)

Edgewood College – March 1–15, 1995
The Faces of Guatemala
▪ Black & White and Color Photography

Edgewood College – 3/96
▪ Hand-bound book exhibit

Gallery Night – 5/99
▪ Handmade paper and hand-bound books
▪ Paper bowls

Gallery Night – 10/99

Paper masks

Gallery Night – 5/00

Clamshell boxes
Artists books
Specialty journals and hand-bound books
Japanese folded boxes with handmade paper

Awards

Best in Show, First – Book Arts, Museum of Wisconsin Art, 2016-17

Permanent Collections:
University of Wisconsin Kohler Art Library
Cast Hand with Artist Book, mixed media, 2017
The Tongue is the Place, artist book, 2017
Buck Moon, artist book, 2017
There are Voices in the Graveyard, artist book, 2017

Owner

VALLEY RIDGE ART STUDO, LLC – 1999-2014
Provided coursework and resources devoted to bringing the intrinsic life-affirming qualities of physically creating art to a diverse audience, including artists, writers, teachers, librarians, and craftspeople.

Press

Mentions and Articles

Bound & Lettered – Bound & Lettered Vol 14, No. 2

Books as Sculpture: Bone Folders Turn Bookmaking Into Art.
Wisconsin State Journal

Six Shows Explore the Art of Memory
Madison Magazine

Features and Books

Valley Ridge Art Studio featured in:

Destination Creativity: The Life-Altering Journey of the Art Retreat. Author: Rice Freeman-Zachery

Creative Pilgrimage: An Exploration of Artful Gatherings and Discovery of Innovative Art Techniques: Author: Jenny Doh

Green Travel Guide to Southern Wisconsin