Kate Petley

2011

My work broadly describes a personal experience of location and light, the feeling of a place. This can also describe an internal situation,

as if to explain our emotional responses or personal 'weather'. A love of nature's complexity always underscores my work… but it can't

be narrowed only to a backdrop of trees and sky. Influenced by the feel of our semi-urban world and the edges where it bumps up

against nature, the compositions become gameboards upon which I play out a longing for simplification, for understanding.

I'm documenting a penetrating experience of anxiety, discovery, and amazement in the face of increasing environmental complexity.

Childlike wonder persists among feelings of loss, distance, and change. My working process mirrors the same diversity I find outside

the studio, contrasting and mixing imagery to create atmospheric pieces that seem alternately wistful and exuberant.