An Inspiring Artist Reflection

Artist:

Katie Holten, also known as ‘The Tree Lady’, is a visual artist from Dublin, Ireland born in 1975. Holten is passionate about environmental issues and expresses her views through drawings, sculptures, installations, books and gallery exhibitions. She uses art as an outlet to communicate the contingency of life’s systems and the relationship between humans and nature. Holten studied at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin, the Hochschule der Kunst in Berlin, and at Cornell University in New York. After representing Ireland at the 50th Venice Biennale in 2003 she was offered a Fulbright Scholarship in 2004, moved to New York and developed her career. Since then she has been integrating her environmental beliefs through exhibitions focused on nature around the world.

Inspiration/Motivation:

I found Katie Holten and her work to be very inspiring. She is able to creatively address social issues thoughtfully through art. There is purpose and meaning behind her creations, which is what originally attracted me to her work. She aims to visually connect with people about the need for environmental change. I admire her simplistic style; it makes the message behind the work even powerful. She encourages individual interpretation of her pieces and the freedom of unique perspectives. I chose to focus on her book About Trees because I not only found it visually appealing and interesting but it also resonated with me. The collection of different authors and artists’ works blended together to form a cohesive and influential piece. In modern times it is extremely important for people to stand up for the issues they are passionate about. Hotlen’s unique approach through art is inspirational and motivational.

Artwork: http://www.katieholten.com/AboutTrees.Excerpts.html

In 2015 Holten created a book titled About Trees, which is a collection of poems and stories from a variety of authors about trees and nature. Holten designed illustrations throughout the book to go along with the excerpts, including her famous tree alphabet. The book is open to interpretation but demonstrates our understanding of trees and how they matter.