Katie B Temple is a mixed-media artist whose paintings examine universal ideas and emotions of leaving home, not having a home, or searching for a place to call home. Her creative practice is rooted and influenced by the 17 different places she has lived in throughout her life. Katie's distinctive, architectural style has allowed her to be an active exhibitor throughout Omaha as well as complete many commissions for clients in the United States and Canada. Locally, she has completed commissions for Benson Theatre, Kimpton Cottonwood Hotel, and Cozad Community Foundation. She holds a Master of Fine Arts from Montana State University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Bowling Green State University.

ARTIST STATEMENT

The vibrant, architectural paintings that I create are inspired by ‘empty’ homes located in my neighborhood. ‘Empty’ refers to homes that are not currently occupied. They may be between renters, on the market to sell, foreclosed by the bank, or just abandoned. These homes sit vacant without any belongings or people and are seen as blank vessels awaiting their next possessor. By constructing and layering multiple buildings on top of each other in a single painting, I reproduce the situation of homes transitioning from one resident to the next or from occupied to foreclosed. The structural play of transparent and opaque color blocking in the paintings present a whirlwind of visual incident. Painting these homes has allowed me to reflect on the 15 different buildings I have called ‘home’ throughout my life and how they each were a vessel that held me. The idea of home is about way more than just the physical structure, it is also a feeling and emotional response to a specific place. Each home I have lived in was a place I belonged to; a place of comfort and safety. I called them each home for different reasons and those reasons transitioned as I moved one place to another. The use of vibrant colors allows me to bring life, memory, and personality back into these uninhabited homes; with my color palette inspired by the external house color.