Engaging Artists Resident: Kate Weigel
What inspires your art making practice? I think about the ways that the notion humanity is manifested. I am inspired by the fact that no person can truly grasp the idea of infinity and about that loneliness that is inherent in being human. Themes of futility and mortality as they relate to the human life span run through my work as well as our relationships to technology and the internet. What are you working on currently? I am currently working on some cast glass sculptures and a large scale installation for the New York Poetry Festival in late July. Where are you volunteering now or where will you be volunteering? I have been volunteering with New York Cares organizations and I plan to help out with Common Ground during their barbecues. Describe your thoughts and goals for volunteering I think that volunteering should be mutually beneficial. I want to help others but I also think it's important to be introspective and take away a new perspective from the experience. I want to engage with homeless communities and find ways to give them an outlet for creative expression. Mostly I want to have the opportunity to listen and to learn from to their stories. What would you like to accomplish during Engaging Artists? I want to push myself out of my comfort zone and work with people outside of my own social identities. I want to learn from populations that I haven't interacted with before and use the experience to make art that reflects human experiences outside of my own biography.