By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
A Fort Hays State University master's student explores movement in her thesis exhibit "Centripetal," which is on display now at the Moss-Thorns Gallery of Art on the Fort Hays State University campus.
Katie Petersen's early work focused on taking videos and making collages out of those videos.
Her master's exhibition also focuses heavily on motion.
"My conceptual work that I created for my thesis show was a lot about my experience of dealing with scoliosis and how the body and mind connect together and how they both affect each other and how pain affects our mindset and our bodies," she said.
Scoliosis is a sideways curvature of the spine.
Her featured installation includes painting on lighted semi-translucent panels. She said she wanted the pieces to mimic X-rays on a light board.
Other pieces of her art are specifically modeled after X-rays of her back.
Petersen recorded herself doing physical therapy exercises and then brought them back to life in watercolors."I wanted to create a very private and intimate space for these paintings," she said.
Petersen depicted the illusion of movement in paintings, including "The Swimmers," "Skater" and "Chiropractor."
She said the movement is repetitious and also meditative.
When you go to a physical therapist, you have to do the exercises over and over again in order to heal, she said.
Because of her scoliosis, Petersen can't paint for long periods of time. She has to take breaks.
"I've had to adjust the practice of making art," she said, "where I'm standing instead of sitting or slouching. I have to look at my posture and be mindful of my position because I don't want to cause myself discomfort.
"It's not a sprint. It's a marathon. I still want to be doing this when I'm 80 or 90 years old. I have to be mindful of that now."
Petersen said she started to focus on painting in the junior year of her undergraduate degree.
"I just really liked the feeling of the brushes and the paint and how you could cover large space with color very quickly, also the layering," she said.
She said that watercolor has much more intimacy than oils. In her her watercolors, she shows more of her face.
Petersen's exhibit, which will run through June 9, is her last requirement for her degree. She participated in graduation ceremonies in May.
Petersen, 25, of Fremont, Neb., will have an artist residency at the Red Barn Studio in Lindsborg in July. She also has accepted a position with Sterling College as an assistant professor of fine arts.