Ross + Kramer is pleased to present Kiss Garden, Katherine Auchterlonie’s debut solo exhibition with the gallery. Kiss Garden will open on July 18, 2024, with an opening reception from 6pm to 8pm, and will be on view through August 13, 2024 at Ross + Kramer New York.
Auchterlonie’s work is heavily rooted in her study of systems of notation and symbology—namely, that of the symbol of “X”. Throughout her practice, the X is considered across its many identities and dimensions. In Kiss Garden Auchterlonie focuses specifically on the identity of X as the kiss. In embarking on this body of work, Auchterlonie developed her own organic abstract notation system through a synthesis of “plein air” impressionistic sketches and scientific reference material such as medical illustrations, dance notations, mathematical characters,and prehistoric symbols. This system is employed throughout her paintings, much like an alphabet, to transmute layered experiences from an omniscient point of view. For the artist, abstraction is fundamental to the success of this system in communicating such emotional and physical complexities. Both color and materiality play a crucial role as well. Coupled with Auchterlonie’s delicate, subdued palette, her use of leather, quilt liner, and other unconventional materials as foundations for her paintings provide a sense of atmosphere and tactility, eliciting physical sensations that help to frame the chosen narratives.
Drawing on the principles of baroque dance notations such as the Beauchamp–Feuillet notation, Auchterlonie’s fluid, airy compositions communicate sequences of events across varying lengths of space and time. By utilizing her notation system in this manner, the artist seeks to investigate the expression and experience of duration and how it relates to memory. This can be readily seen in works such as her monochromatic Night Sequence II series, where physical movements and sensations appear chronologically mapped out through the artist’s distinct calligraphic abstraction across six separate canvases that span three walls of the gallery’s rear viewing room. Moreover, with the symbol of X as a guiding force, Auchterlonie’s work explores the ways in which naturally occurring antithetical states such as light and dark, wet and dry, soft and hard, recontextualize and inform the human experience. As a whole, this body of work exists as illustrated nexuses of human interaction and perception that, while often born from personal observation and experiences, are amenable to the imagination of their audience.
Katherine Auchterlonie (b. 1999, Portland, OR) is an interdisciplinary artist living and working in New York. Auchterlonie worked as an early childhood arts education teacher for a number of years following her studies in Art History at Austin Community College, Willamette University, and Texas State University. Her work has recently been exhibited at Charmoli Charmoli (New York, NY), Sitting Room Gallery (New York, NY), and Spy Projects at Brooke Alexander Gallery (New York, NY).
A performance by Jaya Twill, entitled "I Asked You Questions and You Told Me Only Secrets", will take place during Auchterlonie's exhibition on Friday, August 9th, from 5pm to 8pm at Ross + Kramer, New York.
