Kathryn Mecca

Tyler School of Art

Artwork title: School Girls No. 1
oil on canvas | 29.5 x 31.5 inches

Tell us about the work that you have submitted.
School Girls No. 1 was created in Santa Barbara, California, where I began to focus on the use of color and surface texture as reductive tools. This shift of focus began with this painting and continues in my current work.

How do you describe your work and practice?
My up-close yet simplified portrayals of the human figure are both alienating and intimate. Currently, my work is expanding beyond painting and into a series of figurative sculptures that use the same language to achieve a similar effect.

What motivated you to apply to the AXA Art Prize?
To participate in the conversation that is happening in figurative art today.

What is your background in art?
I have always been interested in people and am fascinated by the process of breaking down social interaction. I studied both visual art and sociology at Rutgers, ultimately focusing on painting. I found painting as a way of exploring more nuanced elements of social exchange that might go unnoticed. As a medium, it allows me to engage in the more quiet or hidden elements.

www.kathrynmecca.com
Instagram | @katmecca