Berlin –Artist, professor and award-winning creative director, the super talented Kate Hollett sat down in Berlin for an exclusive interview with Pakistan Today.
An artist that has taken a unique interest in promoting emerging artists in Pakistan, Hollett spoke about the value of art and artists, particularly about young emerging artists in Pakistan. While addressing young and emerging Pakistani artists, she spoke a great deal on importance of proper knowledge of colours and cultures, launching their work commercially and how art relates to every human being.
Talking about the connection, contribution and importance of art as a whole in everyday life, Kate said that, “art is the king of our emotions and our emotions are expressed through the way we express them. It evolves in our daily lives. We could be creatively cooking in a kitchen or walking down a street, and that would be the expression of who we are, so what I think is, everything which goes through a process one way or another could be considered art.”
(Woman taking a selfie in Marco Polo Square in Venice during the Biennale. The concept is inspired by Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus”. She is born anew in the 21st Century, full of love and joy radiating, a shared moment in time that is everyone’s time)
Responding to another question she said, ‘every student artist who is painting, should learn about the usage of colours because that information will help them express what they want to portray, for example, bright colours express the moments of beauty, they should know what colour works best with another colour, and how and what colour represent what aspect of a society, is something really important to know for students in order to use the best of their abilities.
Colours express a lot about what we are going through, for instance, white is a spiritual colour in one culture and in another culture, red would be considered spiritual’.
Moreover, she said, “History is full of artists whose work didn’t get recognised by the world, many starve because art can be undervalued or overvalued in some other cases.
There is no tangible value you can guess in terms of earnings, that’s why sometimes it is extremely difficult for an artist to make a good living in certain societies, as compared to those where art is appreciated.”
“Any emerging artist should not start painting or creating art from a commercial point of view, because your actual creation is the one thing which needs to lead in your art work always. You can’t think about the market, you can’t think about where and how your work is going to sell, because this will totally change the way you create a piece. Therefore it is extremely important that budding artists focus their vision on things that matter to them. What and how you want to express your art work should be supplemented by knowledge of colours, design, shape, desire and structure, just break your own personal boundaries forget the money and when you have done that, only then ‘take it to the market’.”
Kate Hollett As an artist, also works in the area of emotions and communication crossing many disciplines including neuroscience, psychology, philosophy, and emotional anthropology with a strong emphasis in media study and communication, her work has received much media attention including BRAVO, CBC, The National Post, The Toronto Star, MacLeans and Scarlett magazine. Kate was voted BEST VISUAL ARTIST in the city by NOW Magazine, Toronto’s leading weekly newspaper & one of the “Top 12 Female Contemporary Canadian Artists” by the Royal Bank of Canada. Her film “I Love You Over & Over” won her Best in Show at the Detroit International Art Video Festival for the Museum of New Art and played at the prestigious LA Short Film Festival. Her work has garnered the walls of former President Bill Clinton, John Hunkin, Christo & Jeanne-Claude. Kate travels extensively, splitting her time between North America and Europe.
