Katie Holten is a contemporary Irish artist whose artwork focuses on humans' impact on the natural environment.

Career

Her mother was a gardener and a floral artist. She graduated from National College of Art and Design in Dublin in 1998. In 2004 Holten was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to develop her practice in New York. In 2002, Holten was awarded €20,000 as the winner of the AIB art awards. Holten was chosen to represent Ireland at the 50th Venice Biennale in 2003.

Work

Holten's work is often made from recycled materials, and involves maps, plants, and various ecological subjects, provoking a dialogue on issues ranging from biodiversity to global warming. Drawing is central to Holten's work. She is fascinated by the process of transforming two-dimensional drawings to three-dimensional works. "In a sense, no matter what form they end up taking, all of my works can be considered drawings. I have a wide-open understanding of what drawing is. It's lines created on a page, in space, on screen, on a wall, through walking, flying, talking, via graphite, ink, sand, stones, wind, sound, ether, time… Drawing is a way to chart what is there, what might be there, what could be there." In works like "Uprooted", the very shadows cast on the walls are part of the work. In 2007 Holten was commissioned by The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Wave Hill and the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation to create "Tree Museum", a public artwork celebrating the 2009 centennial of the Grand Concourse, Bronx, NY. "She has marked out 100 trees along the Concourse, which is about four and a half miles long. Each one will have a sign that gives a phone number and a code to listen to short recordings of people speaking about the Bronx, their lives and their work."

Exhibitions