Take What You Need

Katie Straus

Interview by L. Valena

November 23, 2022

Can you describe the prompt that we gave you?

The prompt I got was collage. It had all of these circles, and a lot of color on it. My initial reaction was that I got kind of overwhelmed. It just seemed like there was a lot going on, and I wasn't quite sure where to focus. I liked it. It felt like a commentary on the world right now. Maybe that was just my personal take. There was just all of this information being pushed at you. Sometimes you don't know where to focus your energy. That's what I got from it.

Where did that take you? Where did you go from there?

I didn't want to think about it too much, so I thought I would just copy the color scheme and go with it. How I make my art is a lot of abstract, and a lot of color. I figured I could play off of what was there already, and maybe use some different shapes and colors than what I would usually use. Kind of see where that goes. I did unfortunately get covid immediately after signing up for this.

No!!!

It was poor timing, and I was home without art supplies. I had some paper, and basically used my kid's art supplies. It looked pretty messy in the beginning. I was just going with it. It was kind of interesting to struggle with that, knowing that this is not supposed to be a perfectionist thing, but then having children's paint as your medium is a little bit hard. When I could come back to the studio, I almost was just going to leave it how it was. This was what I created, it embodies the time and the place I was in. But then I thought more about how I initially reacted to the prompt, about how overwhelming it was. I thought that, maybe in the same vein, I could take this thing that seems kind of messy and doesn't feel right, and make some tweaks and changes to make it feel more manageable. More palatable. It sort of brought the piece full around to the beginning. If you look at the news, you can't put your energy everywhere, but you can pick a few things and care a lot about those things. That's sort of how I felt about it. It almost ended up being political. I consider my art to be political, because I'm political, but I don't think people would necessarily feel that way when they look at it.

No matter what you're making as an artist, being an artist in itself is kind of political. You're choosing to do something that is not within the standard of what we're 'supposed' to be doing. I'm not making a ton of money. I make some weird stuff. My goal is to connect with people. I think that's all really political. I think you have more say in where your money is going... it's all kind of connected. Art and politics. I think maybe the only way to not be political is if you're just making something that isn't really who you are. If you're just churning out something, that might be different. But if you're doing this weird thing that you feel compelled to do with your life, despite all rationality, that gives other people the idea that they're allowed to do it too. We have this idea that we have to get a job, make money, do the thing. Of course, we need that. If I wasn't making a certain amount of money I wouldn't be able to do this, but I think anything that goes against the crumminess of the world is a step in the right direction.

I think you're so right about art and politics. Even when I think about the big-name artists who are making a ton of money at it, they seem to be kind of playing with the system in a way that in itself feels political. 

I went to a liberal arts college a long time ago, and there was an ongoing conversation in one of my classes which posed the question: is it your responsibility as an artist to be political? Can you just make pretty art? At the time, I felt like you could do either, but now I feel differently. Something doesn't have to be an in-your-face statement to be political. I feel like people still don't really believe that you can be a full-time artist. I didn't really believe it myself, until I decided I was going to do it. But if you're taught your whole life that it's an impossible dream... I meet people all the time who ask, "But... what's your job?" I paint flowers! Of course, in my world, everyone is an artist. People who do other things, I think that's the odd space to be. I don't see that as being a very happy or healthy space in a lot of ways. I wish everyone could do what they want to do with their life, and have their needs met.

I want to hear more about your process. It sounds like it was some wild timing, and kudos to you for just sticking with it and seeing it through.

I feel like there was a liberty. When you have covid, there's no law. You're just in your jammies all day. But also, I don't plan on selling this, it seemed like just such a cool idea, this call-and-response telephone idea. It gave me the freedom to just be a little bit more wild. I was ripping up paper. Since I had limited resources, it was kind of a cool process. I looked through magazines to find colors that were working. 

I did the initial painting alongside my four-year-old, who was also painting. That was cool. We were working together, except mine was this grown-up project, and she can make like eighty paintings in five minutes. It was sort of nice to think about how to start work in a different way. I have a process that I go through, and it's pretty much the same every time. It was nice to have a different voice with me, thinking about it in a different way. It made me want to look for different ways to incorporate that into my actual art practice too. We can get kind of stuck. I know the things that work, but it's cool to grab different ideas, even if it's messy or ugly or whatever. It will kind of stretch you in a different way. This got me excited to do more stuff like this.

I also used words in this piece, which is something I don't usually do. Then I painted over them. But it says, "There is so much happening everywhere all the time, and sometimes it feels like an awful lot." That was the overall theme I got from the prompt, and what I was trying to put into this. That tends to be something that happens in my regular art process: I take something chaotic and try to find out how it can fit into a space. It was cool to have it be a new project, and have it be still true to how I paint.

Do you have any advice for another artist approaching this project for the first time?

Try not to overthink it. Have fun. The end product will be what it's supposed to be.

Call Number: Y92VA | Y97VA.stTa

Katie Straus is a Berlin-based abstract artist originally from the US. She creates colorful flower and plant artwork by painting layers of abstract shapes and then cutting that imagery back to create something representational. Her work leans on the unexpected and unplanned, relying heavily on process to create work that is both modern and fun.