Gallery Archive
Katie Pumphrey: Monsters Below
Baltimore-based artist Katie Pumphrey brings her playful energy and vibrant colors to WSS with her new solo show Monsters Below. Including large paintings, sculpture, and a site-specific mural, Monsters Below investigates the tension between the constant chaos around us and the scramble to find calm at the surface of it all, bringing surprise and joy to all viewers in the process. Don't miss this amazing experience!
Join us for the Opening Reception on April 7th from 6-8 pm.
The Opening Reception is held on First Friday, and we encourage visitors also to visit Hillyer and Studio Gallery to view all the exhibitions on display in the neighborhood.
Additional events:
Artist Talk, April 15th, Noon - 2pm
Third Thursday-ArtWalk Dupont, April 20th, 5 - 8pm
Monsters Below is open from March 16th to April 28th.
Artist Statement
Monsters Below explores the sneaky trickster that is our imagination. The beasts of our anxieties and fears try to convince us the darkness is full of silly-eyed monsters that will swallow us whole. We wrestle them again and again, thinking we've made it to the other side. Yet they're always lurking just below. Swells hit you like a dodgeball to the face. Up gets lost in the down. We make jokes to lighten the moment and tell the monsters to go away. But, those sneaky little suckers keep nipping at your heels, testing our every instinct to react. Despite the struggle, again and again, we plunge feet first into the shark-infested pool of our fears- and somehow, stroke after stroke, over and over, we calm the waves, adjust to the light, and ease the turbulence.
And over and over we joke- it's gonna be fun.
About the Artist
Katie Pumphrey is an American contemporary artist. Pumphrey has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art.
She has participated in artist residencies at the Studios of Key West, Vermont Studio Center, Gallery Four, and the Creative Alliance in Baltimore. Her work has been exhibited nationally, including solo exhibitions in Baltimore, Washington DC, Alexandria, and Key West.
Pumphrey is also an ultra-marathon open water swimmer. Katie has swam the English Channel twice (2015, 2022), as well as around the island of Manhattan (2017), and the Catalina Channel (2018). Those three swims make up the Triple Crown of open water swimming, making Katie the 194th person (73rd woman) in the world to achieve that honor. This aspect of her life constantly influences and drives her work. Pumphrey lives and works in Baltimore City, MD.
