Brief Bio: Two events shaped my ideas and perceptions of art – being born and educated on the prairies of North Dakota followed by graduate study at the University of California, Berkeley where I completed my Master of Arts degree in 1969.  The open spaces of the prairie landscape and the minimalist theories of many of the artists of the 60’s and 70’s are references that can still be seen in my work today.  Time spent in Japan and in Finland both confirmed and expanded my existing aesthetics, based on themes of space, time and process.

In my art works I use a variety of media; paper, wood, glass and metal often combined with the photographic image or video to build visual narratives.  Much of this work, such as the Earthworks series of the late 80’s and more recently the installation, On the River, 2014 has grown out of reflections of the land.  Man’s fragility, his relationship to the environment, and his inseparability from the past are the interchangeable themes in the work.

The International Sculpture Symposiums that I participated in (1991 – 2006) took me out of my familiar studio environment forcing me to think creatively in different spaces, countries and with groups of artists from different backgrounds and cultures. All of these experiences had a positive influence on subsequent art works produced in my studio in Montreal or in Vermont.

In parallel with my artwork I have made a life-long study of textiles in all forms.  This has resulted in two award-winning videos on contemporary Maya women in Guatemala. and more recently  a documentary, Kuna Women and the Art of the Mola in which the women and the mola or blouse fronts that they make serve as a window into broader issues of the history of the Kuna of Panama, their culture and traditions.

From 1977-97 I was a Professor and also served as Associate Dean, Research from 1992-96 in the Faculty of Fine Arts at Concordia University in Montreal, retiring as Professor Emeritus.  While at Concordia I founded the Fibres program within the Studio Art Major as well as established a papermaking studio. Presently I live and work as a filmmaker and artist both in Northern Vermont and in Montreal.

Contact: email 88kathryn.lipke@gmail.com              phone: 514 295-9083

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