U.S.
Born: Singapore
Kelly Garrett Rathbone is a sculptor whose work bridges ceramics and glass. She was born in Singapore to American parents and lived in Indonesia, Italy, and Norway before settling in the U.S. She has studied at Parsons School of Design in New York (2001), the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2003), and the Florence Academy of Art in Italy (2008), where her focus was classical sculpture. It was during an apprenticeship with sculptor Cristina Cordova that she first began working with clay.
Rathbone has been awarded residencies at Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts in Maine, the Archie Bray Foundation in Montana, the LH Project in Oregon, and the Da Wang Culture Highland in Shenzhen, China, among others. She has taught workshops and classes throughout the U.S. Her work can be found in national and international collections, and she has exhibited in both solo and group shows around the country.
“My sculptures are surreal documentations of my life, thoughts, and feelings," Rathbone said in an interview. "They make up my personal ‘cabinet of curiosities.’ I choose to explore the power of religion and the parallels between its iconography; the ultimate, inevitable death of life on earth; the emotions that evolve from the relationships we establish and develop throughout our lives; ‘beauty;’ and the dominant view of idealism that transcends cultures.” [2]
For more information on Kelly Garrett Rathbone, visit http://kellyrathbone.com/.
[1] Sources for this profile include http://archiebray.org/residence_program/residents/resident_kelly_rathbone.html and http://kellyrathbone.com/artist-info. [Accessed 4/2/2015]
[2] Author unknown, "Kelly Garrett Rathbone, 2009–2010 Matsutani Fellow," http://archiebray.org/residence_program/residents/resident_kelly_rathbone.html. [Accessed 4/2/2015]