Katharine Heyl: fiber art grounded in repetition, ritual, and color relationships.

Katharine Heyl is a mixed media artist currently residing in Washington, DC. She received a BFA in Studio Art from Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts. While she focused her studies on sculpture and painting, she remains heavily influenced by color theory and the work of Josef Albers. Her current work is an expression of a love of color, often utilizing a limited palette.

Using the thread as a medium, Katharine deconstructs the base colors by applying color theory techniques. The process of hammering hundreds of brass nails, then weaving fragile thread back and forth, results in a contrast of the materials similar to the contrast of a single color thread against a different hue, shade, or complementary. The intricate placement allows the color to express simply the best versions of itself while having a dramatic and psychological effect on the viewer.

Katharine’s work is displayed locally throughout the DC area and is part of multiple private collections, including a piece currently on loan to the US Embassy in Cyprus. She is also the executive director of Rat Gallery, a community-supported art gallery in Washington, DC, which holds regular art events in Katharine’s private studio. When she is not in the studio hammering away, she enjoys immersing herself in nature, teaching and practicing yoga, and spending time with her ten-year-old son Finn.