Apr 17, 20232 min read

INSIDE | Katherine Percival

Showing from April 17th to May 1st 2023! 84 Wyndham Street N, Guelph ON N1H 4E8

"I create abstract and representational mixed media paintings, drawings, and prints that explore the human reality through feelings and emotions. Taking what I feel on the inside and sharing it to the outside world. I explore this concept through a variety of materials that reflect a particular emotion; however, I particularly gravitate to mixed media painting. My work tackles the notion of what you see is not what you get. As conscience beings we all feel emotions but at different capacities, intensities, and effects. I am interested in diving into the depths of those emotions and outwardly sharing them in hopes to connect people through what can often be an isolating experience.

Inside is the exploration of my personal experience with anxiety. I experience what some people would call “high functioning anxiety”. High functioning anxiety “describes an individual who, despite feeling anxious, seems able to effectively manage the demands of day-to-day life.” While this definition might seem to express my daily existence, it didn’t properly express what that means or feels like internally. In an act of reclaiming my reality, I created a wall collage of abstract and representational mixed media artworks that truly expresses what anxiety looks and feels like to me. Often times the experience is chaotic, confusing, overwhelming, over stimulating, painful, crippling and numbing. Anxiety isn’t just a state of mental health. It’s a physical, emotional, and psychological battle. Inside is my way of finding control over my mental health when my mental health feels like it is taking over me. It’s my way of trying to control the chaos of my own feelings, bringing new light to an under appreciated diagnoses."

About the Artist

Katherine Percival is an emerging artist and educator based in Guelph, ON. Katherine attended Brock University where she obtained her Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) and Bachelor of Education. From her experience as a teacher and understanding the prevalence of mental health growing since the pandemic, Katherine’s artwork explores and reveals the experiences attributed to mental health that is often seen from within but never understood from the outside. Using her own experiences, she hopes to create a bridge between what people see and what people feel, allowing that gap of understanding to turn into empathy and consideration. Katherine is a recently elected member of the Colour and Form Society and has been shown at the Boarding House Gallery, Gallery in the Grove, and the Etobicoke Civic Centre Art Gallery.

Featured Work

System Error 404 (Panic)

24"x 24", Mixed Media Painting

2022

Not For Sale

Stuck on Static

14"x 14", Acrylic on Canvas

2022

SOLD

Control

12"x 12"x 18", Acrylic on IKEA Stool

2023