Kassie Woodworth
The ART of IMPROV
Let us welcome our newest guest Kassie Woodworth to The ART of IMPROV. Kassie is a visual artist living in Indianapolis, Indiana. She works in various mediums including sculpture, printmaking, and mixed media. She graduated from Herron School of Art and Design in 2019 with a B.F.A. in Sculpture. Most of her work investigates patterns, habits, movement, and growth in nature. Kassie has exhibited in various galleries in Indianapolis including the Indianapolis Arts Center, the Indiana State House, Gallery 924, Indianapolis Arts Garden, Berkshire, Reese, and Paul Gallery at Herron School of Art and Design, Butler University, The District Theatre, The Harrison Center for the Arts, and the Tube Factory. I have seen her work and find it so very inspiring. I am excited to learn more about her process and the way she uses improvisation to create her beautiful work.
Untitled Kassie Woodworth
What does working improvisationally mean to you? How would you define the ‘Art of Improv’?
My entire studio practice is centered around improvising and resourceful decision making! I think the best comparison or explanation I can make is that my process is like “saving cooking scraps from dinner to make a broth with them, then composting what remains to use the dirt...to then grow new vegetables to do it all over again.” Being resourceful sparks creativity and in turn, makes me improvise from my original intention.
{ ‘Art of Improv’ - A skill built up over time; Effective problem solving, quick minded or impulsive thinking. Looser, more ‘free’ thinking. }
Have you always worked improvisationally?
I feel like my formal visual art education has dampened the “free thinking” a little but has definitely allowed me to retain my resourceful mindset. I am working to regain my free thinking by saying yes to everything, trying not to think too hard about it because I will learn something along the way...that usually in turn informs other works.
Do you work improvisationally, consciously, intentionally? If so, how do you begin? If not, how do you find yourself getting there?
Both unconsciously and consciously. I find myself getting into a “flow” state where my hands are just making and I’m not thinking about it. It’s all unconscious movements and sometimes I will just use the scraps off the floor of my studio. By using the scraps, I'm not worried about wasting material or if it is good or bad. At some point I thought of that material as garbage, so it's okay to make mistakes with it.
My boyfriend, who is also an artist, and I have an interesting way of forcing improvisational thinking. We will pass a sketchbook back and forth, adding and subtracting elements of a drawing until one of us thinks it is finished. By doing this it allows us to get into a flow state and instantly snap out of it when we pass it to the other person, relinquishing all control and intention we had with the piece. When we get the drawing back, we have to improvise with what the other has added. I used to do this with my mom when I was little. It’s a more refined process with my boyfriend than with my mom. This has a lot to do with our formal art education, thinking about line, color, form, balance, etc.
Basket #4 Kassie Woodworth
How often do you work with improvisation?
Every day! In every aspect of my life! I don’t have much money so I’m very resourceful with my materials, which sometimes informs the concept. It is a process that warms my heart when I’m able to use it efficiently. For example, I will buy a specific paper for a project and save all of the cutoffs, scraps, or mistakes. I will later use those to make paper sculptures or collages. Everything is useful! These scraps inspire me the most. I like to collect similar scrap materials and try to combine them in an interesting way.
Please share a bit about your process. Do you have methods to getting started? Do you have tricks to getting unstuck? Do you have motivators to finishing up?
I am still figuring this out, it’s a constant battle honestly. But my process is sooo important to me and is a huge part of the work. I’m making work about sustainable, day to day practices in regards to the health of the environment. I try to live a mindful lifestyle and my art practice is included in that. I have found that i make my best work when the work means a lot to me...when i put my heart and soul into the piece and it is something i feel very passionate about (human negligence toward the environment and waste).
I do focus a lot on being able to control my creativity. I pay attention to habits and routines. When I get to my studio I have a very strict routine (in list form) I complete before I do anything:
1. Smell - light a candle, incense, or essential oil diffuser. 2. Taste - make a tea or coffee 3. Clean (if needed) 4. Sketch/research in chair (specific chair in the corner of my studio with books and magazines. I will sit here for at least 5 minutes and simmer down, read a little or look at pictures, and sketch whatever I’m thinking about. Stream of consciousness style) 5. GO! Get to work
Habits and routines allow me to get into modes. Same with a morning skin care routine, or even following a recipe. Habits, or the idea of habits, flow into my work as well. For instance, I have a habit of using repetition and line. I have a habit of using circles. I have a habit of starting many projects and not finishing them (I have yet to figure out how to break this habit without dreading the process). Usually submitting an unfinished piece to a show, giving myself a deadline, helps to motivate me to complete it. It usually turns out good because it forces me to problem solve things that I was ignoring or avoiding.
Where do you find inspiration? How do you use it?
Nature, just like many other artists in the world and in history. But mostly the patterned, textures, movement, and colors of nature. The physical pattern of a flower. The pattern that a flowing river makes. The movement of that river and the effects of rising water. I sometimes get stuck when I’m in the city too long and will go take a hike or sit by some water.
This kind of combines the last two questions: I organized a workshop called “inspiration is everywhere” at a show closing a few months ago. It involved me explaining how to take inspiration walks. In art school, I was taught how to critique art. That same skill can be applied to the world, anywhere! Walking down the sidewalk you may notice a crack in the concrete. Think, “How was this crack made? How old is this sidewalk? How many other people have walked on this very ground? What are cracks even? What other cracks happen in the world: a romantic breakup, tectonic plates shifting, drug addiction...etc” Once something catches your attention, expand upon that subject. Sketch down your thoughts. After that thought is done move onto the next possible inspiration; the clouds, the guy in the purple coat, the graffiti on the wall, so on and so on. Inspiration is everywhere.
Untitled Kassie Woodworth
What advice would you give to someone interested in trying to work improvisationally. Can you share some good advice that you received that helped you become more comfortable this way?
Think of a paper clip. Now think of everything that paper clip is or could be. You have one minute...GO. Practicing quick thinking and don’t think about it too hard at first. Some artists are afraid of the blank canvas but the best thing you can do is make a mark, any mark, just do it! Also, practice stream of consciousness writing or sketching.
How would you finish the sentence, ‘What if, . . .?’
What if everyone was an artist? I think everyone is an artist, it only becomes an official title or identity when one embraces it.
What are reading, listening to, watching, or any other inspirational obsessions you would like to share?
My current obsession is pattern. I wear layered patterned clothes, draw patterns, collage patterns, create sculptural patterns through repetition. It's probably getting out of hand considering I'm currently wearing a striped dress with a plaid scarf, textured gray sweater with a floral pattern, floral black and white leggings and multi-patterned colorful socks… but who cares! The more the merrier! And it's the same with my work, layers upon layers upon layers. I don’t read that much (visual learner) but I did work at the Herron School of Art and Design library for awhile. They have SO many great resources. If you are near a “open to the public” art institution’s library, definitely check it out! I get inspired by other people work so I often scroll through the hashtag feed #contemporaryart on instagram. It usually filters out the trending crap and shows some good stuff. Also of course studying patterned in art history and trying to figure out where I fall on the spectrum in the world of art. I think knowing where you are, where you want to be, etc is very important to your practice.
Thank you Kassie for sharing with us, I am so inspired by and can relate to your commitment to using what you have and trying to keeping using up every last scrap, I so agree that playing with the beauty (it is everywhere!) of scrap opens up a freedom that is so hard to find when working with more precious materials, and it solves a very serious environmental problem along the way, a win win for sure! I believe so wholeheartedly in your what if statement that we are all artists and it just up to us each to embrace it if we want to. I appreciate learning more about your work and your process, I think we all have so much to learn from each other and the world around us, thanks for showing us a bit of yours!
To learn more about Kassie and her work check her out on Instagram here and her website here!