Katie Paterson

Katie Paterson is a young British artist receiving a great deal of attention as a cross-medium, multidisciplinary, and conceptually driven artist who focuses on nature, ecology, geology, and cosmology in her work, using her skill and knowledge as an artist together with her limitless curiosity and tireless research to probe matters often left to science. Her devotion and hard work have been rewarded. Paterson recently held the 2010–2011 John Florent Stone Fellowship at Edinburgh College of Art and the 2010–2011 Leverhulme Artist in Residence in the Astrophysics Group at the University College London, as well as recently being named one of four “Best New Artists in Britain” by The Observer of London. In addition, in 2008 she was the recipient of the first annual Creative 30 Award. With work that literally explores the universe and presents its various phenomena, Paterson has been acknowledged and championed by fellow British artist Cornelia Parker in a 2010 article for The Guardian as, “original, engaging, and expansive. She makes us realize how inconsequential we are in relation to the universe.” Described in the same article as, “a romantic . . . with the patience, curiosity, and technical persistence of a scientist,” Paterson first came to public attention with a solo show at Modern Art Oxford in 2008, a year after graduating from the Slade School of Fine Art in London. She has since shown in group and solo exhibitions from London to Seoul, Korea to Venice, where in 2011 she presented the unique and fascinating project 100 Billion Suns during the Venice Biennale.

For Tuesday Evenings, Paterson shares her experiences and ideas as an artist, offering special insight into her work featured in the Modern’s FOCUS: Katie Paterson, as well as what to look forward to from her growing career.