In Knots

Lives were altered in 2020. The drumbeat of society stopped and crisis unfolded as fear, uncertainty, frustration, powerlessness, anger, loss and anxiety took the world stage. In Knots symbolizes the tension, confusion and entanglement of feelings that I felt as I dealt with the loss of my father and my own COVID-19 diagnosis and recovery. Half of 2021 was riddled with anxiety, then, one day the world decided the pandemic was over. Like a school of fish, just keep swimming and the knots will unravel.

In 1986 Katie Truk was given an acrylic tube of neon colored knee highs as a birthday present.  The colors and materials were so enchanting she kept them in the tube and displayed it as a piece of art in her bedroom.1995 while an undergrad at Alfred University she began experimenting with pantyhose as a medium.  She combined the translucent nature of pantyhose with the strong luminescence of neon.  The tubes broke under the tension the pantyhose created.  Clay, glass, nothing seemed suitable for her pantyhose collection of colors, patterns, and styles.
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In 1998 after futzing around the New York City radio world Katie returned to her art and to the equation of pantyhose's limitations as a medium.  It was then that her mother’s friend was diagnosed with testicular cancer.  This reminder of fertility and disease brought a wave of egg, chicken wire and pantyhose pieces that spoke of contamination, possibility and hope.  The fragility of the blown out eggs were not received well and Katie found that the part of the pantyhose was underdeveloped.  
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In 1999, with the gift of some old beach fencing, brought about the first pantyhose and wire creations.  Although she dabbled with the addition of material for a small time and wire gauges it was the intercommunication of the pantyhose and reinforcing concrete wire that held the right combination.
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2001, in the wake of 911, Katie became a teacher.  She began this journey at Creative Hands in Madison New Jersey.  Since, she has taught at the Messy Artist in South Orange, Let’s Create in Boonton (now in Denville), Visual Arts Center in Summit, and West Windsor Art Center in West Windsor.
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In a classroom, as an invited speaker, in an art center, college, or in a private home Katie has had the pleasure to work with ages eighteen months through adult, handicap-able to gifted,  exploring, discussing, and experimenting with vast amounts of materials. Her role as educator forces reexamination of art history and materials constantly exploring perspectives and understanding while exposing and inspiring techniques and ideas for personal studio time.
 
Katie’s art, though size, colors, and texture of both wire and pantyhose change in each of the microcosm, they maintain to be a storybook of traits and personalities that can never be examined to tedium.  Usually one can find one of her pieces being exhibited in the tri-state area.