:: Bio ::
Kate Raudenbush is a New York City-based artist who creates illuminated allegorical environments at the intersection of sculpture and architecture. For over 20 years, her award- winning, laser-cut metal contemplative environments have commented symbolically on our evolving humanity. Soulful experiences are created through an Art Nouveau-meets-futuristic aesthetic that aims to immerse the visitor in its mystery, grace and strength.
Her most recent sculptures include: Ignis Aqua, a privately commissioned massive stainless steel tidal wave holding a cloud ceiling of propane fire effects, and the public exhibition Incanto: An Oasis of Lyrical Sculpture, a collection of 5 immersive allegorical sculptures commissioned by the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, in Richmond, Virginia.
An early career path at Mtv and then as a photographer in the theater worlds of New York City and Washington DC inspired a love of set design and saturated, dramatic lighting. But in 1999, a dare from a friend to go explore a wild art community in a mountainous Nevada desert, rocked her reality of what art could be. Far outside of the confines of the commercial art world, she began to experiment with building sculptural space and light at Burning Man.
Forging a path that soon launched her as the first Burning Man artist that was collected straight out of the desert dust and into the permanent collection of the Nevada Museum of Art in 2007, she has piloted an unconventional artistic career internationally: from embarking on a far-flung art residency near the DMZ in South Korea, to the design of a massive winged soundstage in Amsterdam for the Mysteryland festival, and from designing red carpet sculptures for the AFI Film Festival in Hollywood, to creating a monolithic public gateway sculpture leading to the the largest tech park in the USA.
Her immersive sculptures have been found in both Miami art fairs and civic squares in Montreal, Seoul, Tulum, Lake Tahoe, Reno, New York, Washington DC, Santiago and San Fransisco. As part of the vanguard of artists at Burning Man since 2004, she has been profiled in many surveys of Burning Man art, as well as in the New York Times, London Times, Smithsonian Museum of American Art, Artsy, CODAworx, Hyperallergic and TEDx.
In 2018, her art was featured in the record-breaking No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man exhibition at the Renwick / Smithsonian Museum. In 2019, she received the National Citizen Artist Award from Americans for the Arts and spoke at the U.S. Conference of Mayors in DC. In 2021, Kate sold her artwork at the groundbreaking Burning Man auction at Sotheby’s, in New York City. Her most recent public art commission, Life Force, is a memorial sculpture for the Steven Taylor Sanctity of Life Pavilion in San Leandro, California.
::Artist Statement::
Through utilizing laser-cut mixed metals at architectural scale, I create enveloping sculptural and allegorical environments that comment on the story of our human evolution. Drawing on my theatrical, photographic and design background, I found my way into sculptural space 25 years ago, through daring myself to make experimental art as an immersive experience within the surreal, Salvador Dali-like desert landscape of Burning Man. Transcendent spaces to discover joy, contemplation and connection are formed by engineered steel, paired with hand-drawn symbolic patterning, turning laser-cut metals into lace-like hieroglyphics, which are made more dramatic through the addition of lighting at night. Pools of saturated color and shadow highlight symbolic portals and refuges, offering the visitor a sense of otherworldly mystery and transformation. I create in service to the belief that intentional artwork is a conduit though which humanity understands and elevates itself.
::Artist philosophy::
I am driven to create enveloping sculptural and allegorical environments that comment on the story of our human evolution. Portals of architectural space in laser-cut steel and light emerge from themes of technological sustainability to environmental balance, and from creation mythology to self-empowerment. Small scale artworks are created as hieroglyphs or meditation objects. Large-scale sculptures aim to serve as a surreal set piece for exploration and personal expansion, within the more public sphere of placemaking.
I believe Art is a conduit through which humanity understands itself.
To that end, I create with the belief that intentional creativity has a connective and awakening force. It is the highest quality of the human species. I share the conviction that throughout our human history, artistic expression and invention has been, and will continue to be, an indicator of an evolved society, showing an awareness of its own identity, belief systems, and a vital connection from earth-bound to spiritual presence.
My work’s motivating force is an on-going attempt to question our modern reality, create transcendent spaces to heal and connect with ourselves and others, and to wield art with intention as a tool to bring more awareness to the perils and potential of our evolving humanity, on this increasingly fragile planet.