Kate’s Story

When Kate Lindsey first experienced the magical light of Santa Fe, New Mexico in July 2007, she knew immediately that Santa Fe would one day be her home. After a long and winding course over the next eight years, she did indeed find herself moving into her first live/work studio in Santa Fe. With a grateful nod to the heavens, she knew she was finally home.

Kate was born in Newport, Arkansas and lived most of her life in Little Rock. She began taking photographs at an early age with a Kodak camera, and later with her Dad’s new Polaroid SX70. She always knew that making art would be her life path. Her creative journey has included graphic design, teaching art and photography, and exploring photography and painting in great depth.

During the eight years between that first trip and her move to Santa Fe in 2015, Kate visited the city and surrounding areas every year for two to three weeks at a time. Each trip deepened her love of the light, the people, the mountains, dry air, and especially the sky and clouds. It immediately felt like home. It was the yearly journeys to the high desert that nourished her, and kept her going over the intervening eight years. And those eight years were to be of never ending challenges.

Upon returning to Little Rock after that first trip in 2007, Kate realized the time had come to move her ailing Mother into her home, and take on the role of primary caretaker and the myriad of tasks that included. Several years later, after the passing of her Mother, a new chapter began. Arriving in Santa Fe, in the Spring of 2015 was truly a breath of fresh air in many ways. The dry air felt good, it was easier to move, and her Arkansas allergies were gone. It was a whole new life in a whole new place. The winding road of the next couple of years held its own series of new challenges. The purchase of a home and the subsequent lengthy remodel. The end of a relationship. The sudden loss of her dearest friend of over 40 years. Then the diagnosis, surgery, and treatment of cancer. A long and difficult journey indeed.

And through it all, Kate continued to make photographs nearly daily, posting to Instagram and participating in that community was a lifeline. She made many small paintings expressing the deep transition she was experiencing. All of this work has been a way of processing the grief and loss of the the past several years. Thought it all, she continues to be inspired daily by Northern New Mexico. The colors, the light, the clouds, and the spirit of the high desert are slowly sinking into her bones, bringing a deep healing process. She is inspired to expand her artwork in new directions, both with her photography, her painting, and the exciting place where the two overlap.

Artist’s Statement

“I do my artwork because I have to. It is as much a part of me as breathing. It is what feeds my soul. From the joy of mixing paint colors, or seeing papers change as they touch and overlap, to watching photographs ‘magically appear’; it is my source of joy.” — Kate Lindsey

For me, my artwork is more about sensing than understanding intellectually. It starts with my intuition, and channels raw, driving emotions, that express themselves in shapes, forms, and textures. Through my artwork I learn what I need to know, and what I might be afraid to acknowledge. I try to open my head and bring others into my world, spilling myself onto paper and canvas with layers of colors, images, and memories. My visual vocabulary intuitively reveals layers of my past, present, and future lives, as well as my emotional responses to and perceptions of, the world I see and experience around me. Some of my work involves bringing forth images in layers of my past, both recent and distant, as seen through the filters of my imagination and emotions. Images may show fading memories. Colors and textures express joy, love, fear, confusion, and desire. Fabric represents the fabric of my life, and threads of connections with people and places. Pattern pieces and paper scraps show patterns of behavior I have become aware of and rejoice in, or try to gently change. Words, letters, and numbers may reveal secrets or truths emerging through layers I’ve kept hidden — even from myself. Through my eyes and hands, I am expressing my personal connection with the world. I strive to push past the boundaries of my internal uncertainty, in order to help me understand my place in the world. All in order to become more intensely and completely myself.

My work has always developed from my intuition. It expresses my emotional responses and perceptions of the world I see around me. The emotions and images that drive me are almost impossible to condense into words. My work is very much a result of my feelings at the time, not even visual ideas — they seem more raw than that, simply more emotional, and in the the end it just seems the best way for me to express them is to express them visually. These feelings don’t usually have words. They have shapes, lines, colors, textures, and images. They tell me what I need to know, or what I already know, but I’m afraid to consciously acknowledge. The place where the image originates — regardless of how it is finally expressed — has never changed. I try to simplify my images to the essence of what is most important to the meaning of each piece. This sometimes includes the use of photographs, paint, or various other media to help express the emotions that are being drawn out.

There has always been something inside me calling me to express myself visually. Without it I’m lost, but with it — it’s a beautiful journey, guiding me to wonderful new places.

My ultimate hope is that through my work, I can bring peace, joy, and beauty into other people’s lives.

November - 2019