Katherine Young - - Gilding Demonstration

Katherine Young's work, which was exhibited at Digging Pitt Gallery for the Lush Life show, mixes the obsessive decoration and fervent craft usually associated with religious art. The explicit sexual imagery calls into question our definitions of sacred and profane. Katherine's work explores feminine gender anxieties provocatively and innocently, with something a bit disturbing underneath. The mixed media manipulation of traditional, domestic, and kitsch elements resonates with the mystical and the mundane, the illogical and the ideal. Seemingly paradoxical, it often encompasses morbid elements of the female experience.

Katherine demonstrated gilding, a technique that she uses to great advantage in her work. This ancient technique has been used to decorate temples and sculpture, imbuing the wooden support with the luster of fine metals. The demonstration was on April 1, 2007.