Kathryn Geismar is an artist and psychologist who lives and works in Somerville, Massachusetts. Her interest in identity and internal harmony infuses her professional life in both areas.
STATEMENT
My work explores the complex and often fragmentary nature of identity through portraits and abstract collage. My recent figurative series depicts adolescents ranging in age from 14-21. These young adults are claiming an identity in an age when binary definitions of self are under question. Materials include industrial Tyvek, canvas, translucent veils of Duralar, graphite, newsprint, inks and paint. Figures move in and out of focus; layers of mylar promote looking through; grommets pierce through layers like jewelry and at other times like windows into layers below.
My collages use newsprint “catchalls” as a jumping-off point. These are the paper drop cloths that catch unintentional marks and drips but also the ghosts of objects and paper shapes painted on top of them. Discarded newsprint, graphite marks, painted lines and unconscious marks, tracing paper scraps, and fragments of drawings become generative seeds for new works.
In each instance, faces, shapes, and materials are placed next to or on top of one another, asking, “what happens, who am I, what changes, when I land here?”
Solo Shows
2021 Under Construction, Bromfield Gallery, Boston , MA.
2019 The Myth of Gravity, Bromfield Gallery, Boston, MA.
2018 Legends and Myths, Glen Urquhart School Gallery, Beverly, MA
2015 Wave Studies, Inside Out Gallery, Somerville, MA
Curatorial
2021 Give and Take, with Alexandra Sheldon. Kathryn Schultz Gallery, Cambridge, MA
2020 Exquisite Corpse, with Stephanie Vecellio. Inside Out Gallery, Somerville, MA
2018 Bodies of Knowledge, Kathryn Schultz Gallery, Cambridge, MA
Awards
2022 Nancy Baldwin Prize for Drawing, Concord Art Association
2022 Juror’s Choice Award for painting, Concord Art Association
2020 Nancy Baldwin Prize for Drawing, Concord Art Association
2020 Somerville Arts Council Visual Arts Grant
2018 Juror’s Choice award, Members Juried II, Concord Art Association
2017 Roddy Prize, 18th Annual Roddy, Concord Art Association
2015 Merit Grant and Residency, Vermont Studio Center, July
2014 Juror’s Choice Award, Cambridge Art Association Platinum Show
Education
BA with Honors in Studio Art, Brown University
PhD in Developmental Psychology, Harvard University
Selected Group Shows
2022 Member’s Prize Show, Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge, MA. Juror: Beth Kantrowitz2021
2022 Members Juried I, Concord Art Association. Juror: LaiSun KeaneMember’s Prize Show, Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge, MA. Juror: Ben Sloat
2021 Renew, Bromfield Gallery, Boston, MA
2021 Members Juried I, Concord Art Association. Juror: Kirstin Lamb
2020 Two-Person Show with Kim Triedman, NE Biolabs, Ipswich, MA
2020 Members Juried II, Concord Art Association, Concord. Juror: Liz Shepherd
2020 Members Juried I, Concord Art Association, Concord. Jurors: Emily Eveleth and Penn Young
2019 Fragments: Collaging the Material World, Chandler Gallery, Cambridge. Juror: Annie Silverman
2019 20th Annual Frances N. Roddy, Concord Art Association, Concord. Juror: Josephine Halvorson, BU
2019 National Prize Show, Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge, MA. Jurors: Camilo Alvarez and Steve Locke
2019 All You Need Is…, Bromfield Gallery, Boston
2019 Member Juried II, Concord Art Association, Concord. Juror: Leah Triplett Harrington.
2019 Members Prize Show, Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge. Juror: Lisa Crossman, Fitchburg Art
2019 Small Works, Chandler Gallery, Cambridge. Juror: Hilary Tait Norod.
2019 Members Juried I, Concord Art Association, Concord. Jurors: Gail Boyajian and Gerry Bergstein.
2019 Red, Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge. Juror: Dan Byers, Carpenter Center for Visual Arts.
2018 Fairy Tale/Scary Tale, Brickbottom Art Association, Somerville. Curator: Pauline Lim.
2018 19th Annual Roddy Competition, Concord Art Association. Juror: Sarah Montross, De Cordova Museum.
2018 New England Collective IX, Galatea Fine Art, Boston. Juror: Marni Elyse Katz
2018 NE Artists Juried Competition, Bromfield Gallery, Boston.
2018 Member’s Juried II, Concord Art Association, Concord. Juror: Abigail Olgilvy
2018 Members Prize Show, Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge. Juror: Joseph Carroll, Carroll and Sons
2017 18th Annual Roddy Competition, Concord Art Association. Juror: Ali Ringenberg, Sloane Merrill Gallery
2017 National Prize Show, Cambridge Art Association. Juror: Nick Capasso, Fitchburg Art Museum
2016 Red Biennial, Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge. Juror: Joseph Ketner II, Emerson College.
2016 Escape: A Group Show, Sloane Merrill Gallery, Boston.
2016 17th Annual Roddy Competition, Concord Art Assocation. Juror: Katherine French
2015 Off the Wall, Danforth Art Museum, Framingham. Juror: Katherine French, Danforth Art Museum
2015 National Prize Show, Cambridge Art Association. Juror: Catilin Doherty, Broad Art Museum
2014 Platinum, Cambridge Art Association Biennial Show, Cambridge. Alise Upitis, MIT List Visual Art Center
2013 New Talent/New England, St. Botolph Club, Boston.
2013 Back to Back, Sloane Merrill Gallery, Boston. Jurors: Ali Ringenberg, Damon Lehrer, Jonathan Nix