Katie Rodgers
Katie Rodgers, the artist whose vibrant artwork is created at the intersection of simplicity and magic, has a special connection with nature. A celebrated artist across the globe, Katie has collaborated with the likes of Veuve Clicquot, Van Cleef & Arpels, Diptyque Paris, Oribe, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Christian Louboutin, Samsung, and La Maison du Pastel, among others. In our latest Cultivating Conversations interview, we got a peek into her whimsical world of pastels, New Mexico living, and creative intuition.
“I grew up in the countryside of northern Georgia, but had always dreamed of places beyond.”
After a stint in Pittsburgh, Boston, and Barcelona, I set off to pursue an illustration and art career in New York in my 20’s, which led me to work with many well known brands on a multitude of projects in the fashion and beauty space. Present day, I am perhaps coming full circle; seeking a life and work more in tune with my childhood – filled with nature. In December 2019, I packed my life in New York City and moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico on nothing more than a whim.
Photo Credit: @NoahKalina
WHEN DID YOU FIRST KNOW YOU WANTED TO BE AN ARTIST?
I’m not sure I knew I wanted to be an ‘artist’ per say, but ever since I was young I‘ve felt a deep connection to creativity. It felt curious and natural – and often what I was spending my time on both indoors and out as a child while escaping my three brothers!
“I think going towards the intuitive things I enjoy in life naturally led me to a life in art.”
HOW DID YOUR JOURNEY AS AN ARTIST BEGIN?
In 2009, I had gotten my first job out of college (as a designer) but felt this urge to paint everyday outside of work. I created a website called Paper Fashion simply to house my daily paintings. At the time, I enjoyed painting fashion and the name made perfect sense.
“With the soon to follow introduction of social media, this hobby of mine quickly turned into a business, and took Paper Fashion far beyond where I ever set out for it to go.”
Over the next decade, I worked to build my business under that name. Looking back, I think I enjoyed the anonymity of the name and wasn’t ready for anything more than that.
WHAT WAS THE CATALYST TO REBRAND YOUR WORK UNDER YOUR OWN NAME?
At the end of my time in New York City, I became so confused in both my work and life. I had grown tired of fashion, and it didn’t feel in tune with who I was anymore. While these thoughts were bubbling inside of me, I planted my first garden on the small terrace of my studio on East 66th street.
“Every part of me was craving a piece of my childhood again; to submerge myself back into nature. To be barefoot. To create work that felt more organic.”
That garden changed my life. It opened my eyes to the tiny ecosystem it created, the katydids that would show up on my table full of pastels, the snails that would glide across the garden wall. Not to mention the flowers. It felt like quiet magic. It was my own natural paradise in the middle of Manhattan.
All of this led me to begin creating new work – and perhaps one of my favorite projects, an installation for a small Diptyque shop in the West Village. It felt so in tune with who I was as a person, work I wanted to be creating, and yet after the project ended, I went back to feeling lost. My agents at the time insisted I go back to what I used to create years ago – but I couldn’t. We eventually parted ways. Over the next year, I struggled with what to do and took a trip to New Mexico to clear my head – a place I had always loved visiting. After a week roaming New Mexico with my thoughts, I decided I would move there.
January 2020 became my fresh start. I slowly began to shed my past life, and perhaps still am. I felt the chapter of Paper Fashion needed to close. It was time to turn the page.
CAN YOU TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOUR SHADOW DANCERS AND HOW THEY HAVE EVOLVED OVER THE YEARS?
The Shadow Dancers are still so special to me.
“I was always intrigued by ballerinas – their seemingly effortlessness on stage, contrasted by intense athleticism and focus. I began painting abstract dancers, as if they were mysterious shadows.”
They became a game to me. I searched for them everywhere I went – beyond my paintbrush. It was an exercise in keeping my mind creative perhaps. I think they will always be with me. However, I struggle with the idea of bottling something up like the Shadow Dancers. They are meant to be free…
HOW DOES LIVING IN NEW MEXICO INSPIRE YOUR WORK?
It’s taken me more than two and a half years to feel settled here and I’m only just beginning to find my new path. New Mexico has been such an inspiring place to be throughout this period. There’s a unique sense of calm here, one rooted with creative people who seem to be seeking something beyond themselves.
In 2020, I began working with a friend on his farm and it still feels like one of the best summers of my life. Perhaps the merge of a new life, working in a field filled with magic while the world was in chaos, and the inspiration it gave me. It’s the summer that time seemed to stop. It has forced me to shed the rush of life and be more present. I now find myself craving to work in nature, and have been working a few days a week on a local flower farm since April 2022.
“I’m not sure how it all fits into my work yet, but seeking the things I enjoy has always led me somewhere…”
CAN YOU SHARE A BIT ABOUT YOUR COLOR GRADIENT SERIES?
“My gradient meditations began as just that, small morning color meditations.”
They stemmed from a period of confusion – not quite knowing what to create – but seeking anything to keep my hands and mind connected with my pastels. Perhaps they are to be seen as a colorful intermission.
DO YOU HAVE A PREFERRED MEDIUM TO WORK WITH?
For the past few years, I religiously enjoy working with pastels. In fact, I created a set with La Maison du Pastel based on my time on the farm in 2020 called, “A Harvest of Color”.
HOW DOES COMMUNITY PLAY A ROLE IN YOUR WORK?
“I find the community to be very special in New Mexico.”
It’s a small place, and meeting new people has helped open up my world a bit more intimately than New York was able to. It feels as if many people here are in tune with each other and I look forward to continuing to build those relationships.
YOU’VE BUILT A LARGE SOCIAL MEDIA FOLLOWING. DID THAT HAPPEN SLOWLY OVER TIME, OR WAS THERE A BREAKTHROUGH FOR YOU?
To answer simply, I think I began early and felt connected to it.
“I was inspired to share things and collaborate and I believe people felt that energy.”
I loved sharing raw process (like a viewer could gaze at my paper over my shoulder) more than anything, which perhaps, was something often hidden from the creative world before social media. As I grew and began working with large brands the following snowballed over time.
HOW DOES SOCIAL MEDIA PLAY A ROLE IN YOUR WORK?
“For many years I felt social media inspired me. It was a link to sharing my inner world with the outside world intimately.”
Over the past few years, I’ve pulled back from it a bit for a few reasons. One being that while I am figuring out the future of my work, I don’t feel a need to constantly share things. I have craved immersing myself in my reality – which has felt so inspiring after a decade of living online. I think I will slowly begin to share again, but after what the world has been through the past few years, I want to do so thoughtfully and not solely to chase money or the game of it all.
AS SOMONE WHO IS DEEPLY INSPIRED BY NATURE, ARE THERE ANY ECO–FRIENDLY CHOICES THAT YOU BELIEVE PEOPLE CAN MAKE IN THEIR DAILY LIFE?
“Live with less. Shop locally. Cook at home more often.”
Don’t feel a need to purchase every latest fad online. Fill your home with things that already exist – I’ve found so many gems on Craigslist. Everyone’s world and life are different, but ultimately, I think shielding yourself from the idea you need to buy, buy, buy all the time is the best thing you can do for the world.
HOW DO THE SEASONS SPECIFICALLY INFLUENCE YOUR WORK?
“I love how free and optimistic I feel in the summer surrounded by life bursting in color.”
Yet at the same time, I love the brief days and cold thoughtful nights of winter by a fire. It’s all a balance and each season guides me to the next.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU?
Channeling my new life into new work. Oh, and a whimsical global campaign that will be released in 2023…
© All Photo Credit via Katie Rodgers