One of Kate Protage's most recently finished paintings that will be hanging at the Alexis Hotel.
Stop by the Alexis Hotel this Thursday, December 2nd from 5-6pm and kick-off the 1st Thursday artwalk with our new "Meet the Artist" event. The Alexis is within easy walking distance from a majority of 1st Thursday galleries and venues. Artist, Kate Protage will be in the lobby speaking with guests and artwalk attendees about her work and will have a selection of her paintings on display through the SAM rental gallery and the Bherd Gallery "Meet the Artist" program.
For non-guests, cocktails & other beverages are available at the Bistro & Bookstore Bar and can be brought into the lobby during the event. For hotel guests, this event is held in conjunction with the guest wine reception. This is a great chance to speak with Kate about how she creates her paintings from beginning to end. You'll definitely want to ask her about her evening photo shoots while driving!
Above are pieces from our "Take 5" exhibit that will be showing through December 24th at Bherd Studios Gallery. We will be taking a few of them along to show at the Alexis on Dec 2nd.
Artist Statement
I have a love/hate relationship with the cities in which I’ve lived. Everywhere I look, evidence of planning and structure exists simultaneously with chaos and unpredictability. Depending on the time of day, there are two worlds that exist in the same physical space: streets that appear gritty, dirty and depressing by day turn into an environment infused with a strange kind of lush, dark beauty and romance at night. Taking it all in can be both stressful and exciting, and I feel compelled to capture these moments and remember them.
What interests me most is the junction between sensation and fact—the way different objects come together, a combination of colors, lines and geometric shapes working together in a lyrical fashion to form intensely vivid, sometimes quite abstracted compositions. The origin of individual shapes becomes unimportant as color and texture take over, and different emotions emerge.
My paintings are the beginning of a story—a space that is somewhat recognizable and familiar, but leaves room for the story of the viewer’s choosing. Whether it feels magical and beautiful, or oppressive and ominous, that’s up to the viewer; but the plan is to take people to another place, one that’s part memory and part imagination, and provide them with a momentary escape.
I seek visual harmony, order and polish—in a tumultuous world, these are the things that keep me balanced, and they are the tools for my escape. I choose to pursue beauty.
