Today we’d like to introduce you to Kate Castelli.
Kate, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I’m an artist and academic living and working in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I grew up in Connecticut but Boston and Cambridge have been home for almost 15 years. I earned my BFA from the Art Institute of Boston (AIB). I received my MFA in printmaking and book arts at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (SMFA). I’m currently an assistant professor teaching in the Illustration program at Lesley Art + Design.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Before becoming a full-time professor 4 years ago, I was an adjunct at several institutions around Boston and juggled freelance opportunities with a variety of other part-time gigs. I went to grad school full time while working full time and there were a lot of years that I was relentlessly pushing towards the next thing. Whether it was completing my MFA, making and exhibiting work, or saying yes to a new teaching gig or project, I learned to live with some of the uncertainty and instability of being a creative professional.
I have the rare privilege of being the architect of my own life which means I don’t have a typical schedule and I don’t lead a 9-5 life. But that also means wearing many hats and switching gears a lot. I have to be a maker, a critic, an editor, and a savvy self-promoter. But above all, I have to be resourceful. Nowadays I split my time between the classroom and studio. The pace is less frantic, but I’m still always asking “What’s Next?”
Please tell us about your work.
My studio work exists at the intersection of books, works on paper, and collections that explore poetic and formal juxtapositions in order to connect what cannot be connected. At the root of it all is the idea that paper has a memory and a history. Much of my work explores how I can edit, alter, or add to that history. There are threads that run throughout my work: traveling and the desire to be elsewhere, cities, fragments of literature and art history, small moments that need to be recorded or remembered. They all get layered on top of each other to weave something new out of something old. There is a subtle poetic tension in that, something mysterious and lingering. Someone once described my work as “Sherlockian,” and that has always seemed very accurate.
Most recently my work was used for the cover of Haruki Murakami’s latest novel “Men Without Women,” and it was a dream come true to work with Penguin Books UK. My prints and mixed media work have been used on book covers, in commercial spaces, and on products. My client list includes Penguin Random House, SoHo House, Anthropologie, Hilton Hotels, and Norwegian Cruise Lines. Additionally, my prints and books are in collections and institutions around the world. It’s definitely not been an overnight success, but steadily gaining momentum. It’s fantastic to be able to say yes to creative projects in the publishing, editorial, and commercial realm.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
I grew up going to museums and galleries, traveling, and spending a lot of time with my nose in a book or with a crayon in my hand. My parents have always been extremely supportive of my artistic endeavors and they fostered my curiosity and creativity from an early age. They were both public school teachers, and my father is a photographer, so it is really no surprise that I am an artist and a professor.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.katecastelli.com
- Email: castelli.kate@gmail.com
- Instagram: @katecastelli
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