Throughout history, artists have expressed themselves through multiple mediums. Picasso, perhaps most notably, created works in ceramics, printmaking, and painting during different stages of his creative growth. There are exceptions, but artists, like many other entrepreneurs, must be multi-talented and skilled to succeed. For Kat Knutsen, this comes naturally.
Knutsen left her career in nursing to pursue her passions, starting in the traditional art of oil painting. More specifically, the figurative paintings of the Baroque Era, religious works, and iconography inspired her to learn more.
“I always wondered why art was so powerful at conveying ideas. And so, I was really obsessed with how you convey an idea using art,” she said. “That was what pulled me into learning about figurative art.”
It wasn’t long after completing her master’s painting program that she began to pursue multiple art mediums to express her ideas. One of those mediums was animation.
“I was really obsessed at the time with how the material of oil paint on canvas moved through time, to see what happens when you take a painting and make it move,” Knutsen said. “I started to ask more questions about how you can mix materials in a way that gets your idea across.”
Art roles, past and present
Illustrator: “Loving Vincent” film
Curator: Curious Figure Exhibit, Co-Creative Center through December 2023
Instructor: Drawing the figure, Kilburn Mill, New Bedford
Knutsen is a self-professed cross-pollinating artist, working on drawing, painting, animation, computer graphics, fiber arts, and sound design at any one time.
“A cross-pollinating artist, to me, is somebody who looks at a specific material or approaches specific design with a conceptual series of ideas they’re exploring and looks at that through the lens of another medium,” she said.
She has been successful in intertwining these mediums, having contributed animation to a feature-length Oscar nominated film, “Loving Vincent,” and her own experimental short film animations.
Whether performing with her experimental band, Long Swan, at a local New Bedford club or teaching figure drawing classes at the Kilburn Mill, Knutsen continues to reach a wide range of people at different stages of their artistic growth and develop a community of art practitioners.
David Walega is a photojournalist from the South Coast whose work has appeared in publications around the world. Email him at dwalega@newbedfordlight.org
