Kathleen King
About
Kathleen King is a San Francisco Bay-Area based artist who makes assemblage and sculpture comprised of materials gathered from the waste stream. Presenting an ethos of urban streets from construction sites to encampments, her work reflects states of co-existence, contingency and control as it agitates new meanings from things we discard. King asks questions about the exploitation that economic systems create and demonstrates the importance of maintaining a strong solidarity--a care network--to protect ourselves and our authentic human relationships. Her work challenges viewers to look at abandonment and lack as both material and spiritual conditions, as well as to think about satisfaction, which is linked to global climate catastrophe and consumption.
Kathleen King has been exhibiting her work in the Bay Area since 2000. She is a founding member of artist-run Mercury 20 Gallery in Oakland, CA, where she has exhibited since 2006. King has also exhibited at the San Bernardino County Museum in Redlands, CA; Museum of Sonoma County in Santa Rosa, CA; Your Mood Gallery in San Francisco, CA; GearBox Gallery, Mills College, and Pro Arts Commons in Oakland, CA; the Marin Museum of Contemporary Art in Novato, CA; and the Berkeley Art Center, KALA Institute Gallery, Shoh Gallery and the City of Berkeley’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Civic Center Building in Berkeley, CA.
Maintenance Actions
When I moved into a new studio in October 2022 the ancient floorboards were loose and coming up all over the space so I reluctantly overlaid a new plywood floor which I painted grey. This floor is safer and easier to work on but I feel bad that I had to cover the old floor. Anyway, one of my favorite maintenance practices is sweeping which I do regularly on this smoother floor. I love the motion of sweeping where form and function are one. I slowly reach, making arcs and curves in space, doing a graceful, quiet, purposeful dance. I also love the pile of dirt and detritus that I pull together when I sweep. It’s a small sculpture, different yet the same every time. Finally, as I touch every part of the floor with the broom I collect an intimate knowledge of the space and time therein. All in all, sweeping the studio is a humble satisfaction, usually the best kind.
