Katie Taft

Imaginary Friends Sculpture, Photography In Residence: October 29 - December 13, 2007 Opening Reception: December 13, 5:30 - 8:30pm Exhibition: continues through January 2, 2008Katie Taft culminated her six-week residency with the installation Friendzillaat PlatteForum.Human-scale sculptures filled the gallery, creating a surreal environment inhabited by the likes of Mothra, Murradore, The Crane, Quantum, and Ang. The real and the imaginary, based on people Taft knows, intersect in these forms. Taft combines the subjects, modern lives with the stories of long ago and far away. In the past her figures have been small, ranging from 1 - 18 inches. For this residency she worked on a much larger scale. Students in her Learning Labs collaborated with her, to think about people in their lives and research myth, folklore, and fairy tales. Their work mingled with hers, filling PlatteForum with imaginary Friendzillas.A special Saturday event was held in December, where local artists were invited guest critics for Katie's work-in-progress. This was a unique opportunity for the public to experience a part of the creative process that is usually behind closed "studio" doors.About the ArtistKatie Taft was born and raised in Colorado, spent 12 years in the Northwest, and returned to Denver. In 2001, Katie received her BFA from Marylhurst University and has studied Political Science with an emphasis in Social Justice Issues at Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA. Both Art and Political Science influence Katie's life. Taft's work includes universal stories such as myths, folklore, philosophy, and religion into her art by exploring how these stories can manifest themselves in our lives; it is an "exploration of the real and the imaginary, the material and the idea." She has considerable experience working with youth at the Children's Museum in Portland, Oregon and arts organizations throughout Colorado. Taft's work has been showcased throughout Colorado, Portland, Oregon, Ohio University in Athens, Ohio and Santa Fe, NM. She is represented in many private and public collections in the US and received Westword's Mastermind Award in 2006.http://www.katietaft.blogspot.com/Guest Artist CritiqueAlicia Bailey, Julianna Dreistadat, Steve Gordon, Rick Griffith, Rachael Hawthorne, Steven Daniel Karpik, Adrianna Santiago, Kay TuttleVolunteersCheryl Bailey, Alicia Baily, Efrem Belay, John Bratton, Elder Cordero, Efrain Cruz, Cris Espinosa, Bruce Fowler, Steve Gordon, Rick Griffith, Kristen Grompone, Cindy Haner, Angela Hottinger, Kerri Johnson, Rochelle Johnson, Steve Loppnow, Adeline Lord, Mac Macovitz. Rich Miller, Jasmine Naranjo, Sarah Owen, Asia Padilla, Peter Parker, Lea Rodriguez, Janie Taft, Kay Tuttle, Paul WebsterSpecial thanks toScott Durrah / 8Rivers; Karen Saenz / Your Beveragemeister, LLC; Oogies Snacks; Izze Beverages; Matter Stud