Influenced by man-made environmental catastrophes, emotional landscapes, and ecological systems, Kate Rusek assembles highly tactile sculptures transmuting these themes into abundant maximalism. Engaging with history-laden excess, they shape scenes that interrogate the binary between the living and manufactured worlds. Particular interest is placed on synthetic and highly processed elements as an action to transmute urban ruin into an anti-economic act of rebellion. Rusek’s work is a method to posit a regenerative future and pose questions about psychological perception, socially constructed value, and a broad care ethic through a lens of desire and abundance.
Kate Rusek earned dual B.F.As from The University of Miami and MA from Savannah College of Art and Design. She is a sculptor and textile artist who was named a Socrates Annual Fellow for 2023 and a recipient of a Windgate Distinguished Fellowship for Innovation in Craft. Residencies include The Bray, Chulitna Lodge, Vermont Studio Center, Willapa Bay AIR, The Hambidge Center for Arts and Sciences, GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, and Western Montana Creative Initiatives. Additionally, Rusek is a Daytime Emmy-winning designer and builder of costumes, puppets, and props and brings her process-based curiosity to work with The Jim Henson Company, NBC Universal, and the broader television and film industry.
