RMCAD’s ‘Mending’ exhibit chronicles artist’s recovery

SUBMITTED BY: Karen Wachtel, Director of Communications, Rocky Mountain College of Art+Design

LAKEWOOD – A little over a year ago, Katie Caron was celebrating her graduation – a hard-earned Master of Arts degree from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan. She was helping move partitions used in exhibitions when one of the half-ton walls fell on her, crushing her pelvis in a near-fatal accident. For the next four months, she endured intense rehabilitation,where she had to learn to sit before she eventually learned to walk again.

This incredible tale of surviving extreme trauma is the story behind Caron’s new show at Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design simply titled, Mending. While her body was struggling to heal, Katie found a new form of expressing her pain and frustration through her art. Since access to materials at the nursing home where she lived was limited, she turned to drawing in place of her traditional medium of clay or stop animation.

Each of Mending’s drawings represents a distinct phase of Caron’s recovery, from the first time she crushed paper to release anger through the weeks when she was able to document her pain with line and color. The drawings also evolve in composition with the height of each dictated by where was in the rehab process—starting low as she worked from a wheelchair, and growing in height as she was able to eventually stand and move around again.

All the drawings are on a type of glassine paper, which symbolizes both the fragility of our physical bodies and the resilience of spirit. They are installed in such a way that they move with the slightest breeze, adapting to their environment in much the same way that Caron adapted to her situation.

Katie Caron is an adjunct faculty member at RMCAD in the Fine Arts and Art Education departments. She teaches all levels of ceramics and sculpture along with the psychology of creativity. She splits her time between the campus and her thriving studio practice where she creates sculpture, drawings, animations and unique installations that have exhibited heavily throughout Colorado. Most recently, she had work in Colorado Clay 2010, a juried exhibition at the Foothills Art Center in Golden.

Katie Caron, Mending June 22 – July 16 Rude Gallery Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design

Opening Reception Friday, June 25, 5 – 8 pm Rude Gallery

The exhibition and opening reception are open to the public and free of charge. For more information or directions to campus, visit www.rmcad.edu.

Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design is a private, fully-accredited school, founded in 1963, offering BFAs in a variety of art and design disciplines. RMCAD’s galleries feature regular exhibits from students, faculty, alumni, and world-renowned visiting artists.