ideas. thoughts. brain⛈️s. schemes. studio scraps. little ⚡️s. works in progress.
"Aww, sugar..."
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It's not officially summer until this Thursday, but you wouldn't know it given the 82,000 degree temps we've been hitting in Las Vegas! Summer is here, and I hope it continues to move at the pace it's been going since the semester ended a little over a month ago. I was worried at first it was already flying, but I actually think I'm managing well at juicing the last drop out of every single day.
Pictured above are some things I've been getting into - the beginnings of work on a collage-based exhibition I'll be doing back in Columbus this September (I can't wait to see my Ohio peeps!!), as well as testing how best to capture the glorious shine that is the sun against cellophane.
Below are some 2025 thesis sketches & dreams (OMG!), as well as a piece that made it into "Living in the Dessert", an exhibition happening now at the Rotunda Gallery at Clark County Government Center until July 18th! I call her "Sweet Trails", and I want to bite her frame very much. I'm also in an exhibition titled "Queer Monuments" with "And It Opened Up My Eyes" included below. You can catch it at the Winchester-Dondero Community Center until July 25th!
Pictured above are some things I've been getting into - the beginnings of work on a collage-based exhibition I'll be doing back in Columbus this September (I can't wait to see my Ohio peeps!!), as well as testing how best to capture the glorious shine that is the sun against cellophane.
Below are some 2025 thesis sketches & dreams (OMG!), as well as a piece that made it into "Living in the Dessert", an exhibition happening now at the Rotunda Gallery at Clark County Government Center until July 18th! I call her "Sweet Trails", and I want to bite her frame very much. I'm also in an exhibition titled "Queer Monuments" with "And It Opened Up My Eyes" included below. You can catch it at the Winchester-Dondero Community Center until July 25th!
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I wound up with leftover pink-acrylic-saturated spackle, and finally lived out my dream of CAKE-afying something - what better than a whole ass TABLE?!!! She is such a little cutie and now resides in my apartment's living room...emphasis on the MY in that there sentence...};)
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I hope you're all having a fantastic summer so far, and I hope to be back with more updates soon. Until then - stay cool, stay hydrated, and stay FROSTY! };)
entry twelve
So You Burst Into Tears During Art Theory Class...Sounds Like It Must Be Spring Break Soon!
Quite a chunky bit of time has gone by since my last entry, but at least I made it back before a year went by this time!
How are you? Is it springy and warm wherever you are? It's been lovely here in Las Vegas for several weeks, which is always delightfully bizarre for a Midwest girl to see so much sunshine and fully blooming flowers in February and early March.
As the title suggests, it's been...a time...but a good time too.
My Midway exhibition NOW YOU LOOK has come and gone, and it's still unbelievable to me all that work and time has crescendoed and come back down already. I would like to post images from the show ASAP, but I'd also like to revisit how I am showcasing my work on my website...CRONCHH it up a bit, ya know?
In addition, I am hoping to create a newsletter soon. I've been thinking about it for a while, and then we had a lovely visit from Sarah Russin, Executive Director of LACE in Los Angelos, who pushed the importance of its capability for slower interaction and wider outreach. We're all so algorithm and swipe driven, newsletters take a little more time to ingest. I think they invite someone in for a little while, like an interesting book jacket or well executed magazine cover sitting on a coffee table. If you're waiting in the waiting room as it is, why not delve a little deeper? This project would ideally make its way into circulation in the coming weeks, but likely won't make it until the semester winds down. I'll have more information soon.
Keeping the theme of spring in mind, spring semester is SO - MUCH - FUCKING - HARDER than fall semester, and I will debate this to the end of time. The weather, the burnout, the anticipation of sweet summer surrender, everything. It's always felt harder as a student, and it felt harder in my years of teaching too. I'm enjoying this semester a lot, but I find myself daydreaming a lot about the slowness of summer, the chance to read without deadlines, to make without deadlines, basically the death of deadlines. That in of itself is a bit of stretch, as there will be things I need to get done this summer by certain dates. In addition, there always seems to be more illness, and I was no exception to this calamity. My partner and I both caught some horrible bug at the start of this week that at first, presented itself as a hangover, then food poisoning, then the flu. I slept so much that it was actually kind of, nice? The overwhelming sadness and anxiety that sprang forth being ill, not so much. I watched so much TikTok that I think I may have seen all there is to consume. I also watched a video on how to pipe frosting onto cakes, a newfound obsession I'm hoping to cultivate into a work(s) soon. I also discovered the lovely and sweet artist Danny Gregory whom I highly recommend you check out, especially if you're feeling in a lost/sick/confused/anxious creative bubble of wtf??? He's so comforting to listen to, and has multiple avenues you can check out via podcast, YouTube, etc.
Next week is spring break, and I am SO excited. I am actually venturing back to my hometown of South Bend, Indiana, as I have a massive excavation and purge planned of old work, sketchbooks, and notebooks. I am eager to get things consolidated, let things go, and really harvest out the things I want to keep and either bring or ship back to me in Vegas. It's going to be quite the adventure in my little childhood bedroom. I'm also excited to see family and friends, and will spend a couple of nights in Chicago too. I am very much looking forward to the rest and rejuvenation. The $500 plane ticket, however, can choke on my left butt cheek.
I'll leave you with a brand new collage I created this week, consisting of hot glue, hand cut images of held found images (she's getting TRICKY!!), and tape. It's called "The truth is, we were much too young..." and I am jazzed to keep making like this in the coming weeks. Wishing you all the chicken tenders, tulips, and happy tears that spring brings forth.
How are you? Is it springy and warm wherever you are? It's been lovely here in Las Vegas for several weeks, which is always delightfully bizarre for a Midwest girl to see so much sunshine and fully blooming flowers in February and early March.
As the title suggests, it's been...a time...but a good time too.
My Midway exhibition NOW YOU LOOK has come and gone, and it's still unbelievable to me all that work and time has crescendoed and come back down already. I would like to post images from the show ASAP, but I'd also like to revisit how I am showcasing my work on my website...CRONCHH it up a bit, ya know?
In addition, I am hoping to create a newsletter soon. I've been thinking about it for a while, and then we had a lovely visit from Sarah Russin, Executive Director of LACE in Los Angelos, who pushed the importance of its capability for slower interaction and wider outreach. We're all so algorithm and swipe driven, newsletters take a little more time to ingest. I think they invite someone in for a little while, like an interesting book jacket or well executed magazine cover sitting on a coffee table. If you're waiting in the waiting room as it is, why not delve a little deeper? This project would ideally make its way into circulation in the coming weeks, but likely won't make it until the semester winds down. I'll have more information soon.
Keeping the theme of spring in mind, spring semester is SO - MUCH - FUCKING - HARDER than fall semester, and I will debate this to the end of time. The weather, the burnout, the anticipation of sweet summer surrender, everything. It's always felt harder as a student, and it felt harder in my years of teaching too. I'm enjoying this semester a lot, but I find myself daydreaming a lot about the slowness of summer, the chance to read without deadlines, to make without deadlines, basically the death of deadlines. That in of itself is a bit of stretch, as there will be things I need to get done this summer by certain dates. In addition, there always seems to be more illness, and I was no exception to this calamity. My partner and I both caught some horrible bug at the start of this week that at first, presented itself as a hangover, then food poisoning, then the flu. I slept so much that it was actually kind of, nice? The overwhelming sadness and anxiety that sprang forth being ill, not so much. I watched so much TikTok that I think I may have seen all there is to consume. I also watched a video on how to pipe frosting onto cakes, a newfound obsession I'm hoping to cultivate into a work(s) soon. I also discovered the lovely and sweet artist Danny Gregory whom I highly recommend you check out, especially if you're feeling in a lost/sick/confused/anxious creative bubble of wtf??? He's so comforting to listen to, and has multiple avenues you can check out via podcast, YouTube, etc.
Next week is spring break, and I am SO excited. I am actually venturing back to my hometown of South Bend, Indiana, as I have a massive excavation and purge planned of old work, sketchbooks, and notebooks. I am eager to get things consolidated, let things go, and really harvest out the things I want to keep and either bring or ship back to me in Vegas. It's going to be quite the adventure in my little childhood bedroom. I'm also excited to see family and friends, and will spend a couple of nights in Chicago too. I am very much looking forward to the rest and rejuvenation. The $500 plane ticket, however, can choke on my left butt cheek.
I'll leave you with a brand new collage I created this week, consisting of hot glue, hand cut images of held found images (she's getting TRICKY!!), and tape. It's called "The truth is, we were much too young..." and I am jazzed to keep making like this in the coming weeks. Wishing you all the chicken tenders, tulips, and happy tears that spring brings forth.
entry eleven
Wrangling The Weirdness
My, my, my...it's been quite some time...
Over a year has gone by since my last entry, but that's why I stopped dating them a long time ago and simply number them...takes the pressure off in a way I suppose.
I am in the 2nd year of my 2nd MFA at UNLV, and this semester has been...weird. I keep falling on the word weird for some reason. It's been fun and chaotic and all the usual suspects, but something about it just seemed so different right out of the gate...I'm highly suspicious it's due to some sophomore-slump-like mindset, fatigue, the impending time change this Sunday where we'll gain one whole hour for the loss of the entire sun for six months, and overall nerves/stress/it's-3-AM-and-I-can't-sleep pecking at my wellbeing.
I also fear analysis-paralysis is at play, coiled up in the corner of the ring and hiding behind imposter syndrome. I have SO MANY FUCKING IDEAS YOU GUYS...it's insane. There's so much I want to do and make and try...so what's tethering me back so much? As mentioned in the last entry, I have a silver ring I wear almost daily on my left pinky finger that reads "I WANT TO MAKE ART AND I WANT TO BE HAPPY". It's a constant reminder of what I want to do, why, and compactly put into the simplest of terms. I guess the only thing missing is the how...and I think the trick there is I'll be figuring that one out for the rest of my life.
I have exciting projects on the horizon I hope to share more of soon, including both class-based prompts and personal ones. I also got the opportunity to write a blurb for the MFA cohort's fall 2023 exhibition temporary relief which is on exhibit now through November 10th in Grant Hall Gallery. I love getting the chance to exercise my creative writing chops, so I'll end this little update with said blurb and a snap of my latest tattoo (and aforementioned ring!)
Much like Samara Morgan, I've just gotta keep crawling and see...
ACT NOW FOR A LIMITED TIME!!
cracked knuckles & rubbed shoulders.
It’s not forever dear, but it is a Sunday.
stretch.
stretch.
y a w n
…wondering when all that grief will gelatinize.
The exhibition temporary relief explores themes of respite. These themes are considered through fabricated spaces of healing, places of mourning, ritual, routine, grief, mental illness, advertising, avatars, abstraction and play. Participating artists include Bailey Anderson, Clarice Tara Cuda, ¡Katie B Funk!, Nish Ganimian, Dan45 Hernandez, Karla Lagunas, Kayla Lockwood, Kellilyn Monar, Ty Suksangasophon, and Romina Villarreal. In the hardness of wood, tangles of human hair, translucence of resin, layering of paint, solidification of fired clay, 3D-printed plastic, and a dance of projected light, these ten artists grapple with the temporal through art making. In these objects and spaces, there is a specific feeling of release, a hope in the solace, the kind of peace found only in the pause.
Over a year has gone by since my last entry, but that's why I stopped dating them a long time ago and simply number them...takes the pressure off in a way I suppose.
I am in the 2nd year of my 2nd MFA at UNLV, and this semester has been...weird. I keep falling on the word weird for some reason. It's been fun and chaotic and all the usual suspects, but something about it just seemed so different right out of the gate...I'm highly suspicious it's due to some sophomore-slump-like mindset, fatigue, the impending time change this Sunday where we'll gain one whole hour for the loss of the entire sun for six months, and overall nerves/stress/it's-3-AM-and-I-can't-sleep pecking at my wellbeing.
I also fear analysis-paralysis is at play, coiled up in the corner of the ring and hiding behind imposter syndrome. I have SO MANY FUCKING IDEAS YOU GUYS...it's insane. There's so much I want to do and make and try...so what's tethering me back so much? As mentioned in the last entry, I have a silver ring I wear almost daily on my left pinky finger that reads "I WANT TO MAKE ART AND I WANT TO BE HAPPY". It's a constant reminder of what I want to do, why, and compactly put into the simplest of terms. I guess the only thing missing is the how...and I think the trick there is I'll be figuring that one out for the rest of my life.
I have exciting projects on the horizon I hope to share more of soon, including both class-based prompts and personal ones. I also got the opportunity to write a blurb for the MFA cohort's fall 2023 exhibition temporary relief which is on exhibit now through November 10th in Grant Hall Gallery. I love getting the chance to exercise my creative writing chops, so I'll end this little update with said blurb and a snap of my latest tattoo (and aforementioned ring!)
Much like Samara Morgan, I've just gotta keep crawling and see...
ACT NOW FOR A LIMITED TIME!!
cracked knuckles & rubbed shoulders.
It’s not forever dear, but it is a Sunday.
stretch.
stretch.
y a w n
…wondering when all that grief will gelatinize.
The exhibition temporary relief explores themes of respite. These themes are considered through fabricated spaces of healing, places of mourning, ritual, routine, grief, mental illness, advertising, avatars, abstraction and play. Participating artists include Bailey Anderson, Clarice Tara Cuda, ¡Katie B Funk!, Nish Ganimian, Dan45 Hernandez, Karla Lagunas, Kayla Lockwood, Kellilyn Monar, Ty Suksangasophon, and Romina Villarreal. In the hardness of wood, tangles of human hair, translucence of resin, layering of paint, solidification of fired clay, 3D-printed plastic, and a dance of projected light, these ten artists grapple with the temporal through art making. In these objects and spaces, there is a specific feeling of release, a hope in the solace, the kind of peace found only in the pause.
entry ten
Girl On The Move
I've been meaning to write this for so long...months in fact! Yes, MONTHS! My last update was late April and here we are, NOVEMBER! So what all's happened since the springtime?
- I finished adjunct teaching at CCAD - this time, for good
- I helped execute a massive art exhibition at the Cultural Arts Center with over 250 works of art
- I had to quit my job at One Line Coffee due to scheduling conflicts - *tears*
- I opened RED, WHITE, FREAK / WASH, WRING, REPEAT in CAC's Loft Gallery
- I had a super fun weekend in Columbus with my Seeeeeeeester Sugie Bear (aka Mary)
- I participated in the aforementioned art festivals
- I went on lots of walks around the neighborhood
- I made a sick silver ring with a lost wax cast process with my friends Mary and Bethany
- I started selling all of my stuff - art, furniture, dishes, clothes, shoes, supplies, you name it
- I visited South Bend twice...or was it three times?
- I got to dog sit two of my favorites puppers twice - once right after the semester and almost two-and-a-half weeks in July
- I read Grace Coddington's memoir "Grace"
- I took the puppers on many walks
- I drank coffee and listened to lofi, jazz, Glass Animals, and Magic City Hippies in the mornings
- I cooked the best sweet potatoes I've ever had
- I watched tons of Purple Palace and Fran Meneses YouTube videos
- I donated massive amounts of my belongings
- I started packing everything I own
- I got boxes from FedEx so big I didn't even know they made them in this size
- I stress cried, a lot
- I got really, really excited...
- I stress cried some more
- I had my car checked out
- I said goodbye to my little bungalow one bedroom apartment
- I stayed several nights with my friends India and Ian
- I paid way too much money to ship said massive boxes
- I dined on Rooster's one last time...
- I cried and waved at the mid-size city skyline one last time...
I SET OFF TO MY NEW HOME...
LAS VEGAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I arrived here August 14th, and WHAT a journey it was...my friend Mary (who I made the awesome ring with!!) came with me on the trip, and I am so glad she was with me to see this beast of a journey through. I had never traversed that much of the country before, let alone that many states. Our first stop was to the ole hometown of South Bend, Indiana, where we stayed two nights and got to visit with friends and family one last time before departure.
We journeyed, in total, through Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and finally into the motherland of Nevada. OHIO went by in a blink. Same thing with INDIANA, with the home pit stop to South Bend in between. ILLINOIS sucked to put it nicely - torrential rain resulting in me hydroplaning next to a semi...my heart is still in my butt. The only redeeming factor was the break we took at a Chili's, LOL!
IOWA was just as green as I imagined she would be, with the delightful surprise of SO many wind turbines. I started to feel like I was on a rollercoaster...it was much hillier than I was expecting. We stayed one night in Winterset, exploring this town more the next day. This included a dirt road I refused to traverse that I shit you not had to have been at least 80-85 degrees in angle. We were on a quest to find the original covered bridge of the movie Bridges of Madison County and managed to re-route and find it another way. Whew...Iowa you be wildin'.
NEBRASKA was about as yellow as I was expecting, and just SO. FUCKING. BIG. I didn't realize I'd become such a silly little city girl till this state...it felt like someone had ripped the sky open it was that expansive feeing. This should have been lovely, but my nerves were getting more and more shot. The move, the stress, the changes - all of it was so exciting but also so scary and sad and wonderful and hard. The people were...well, peeeeeeeople...HA! We stopped at one point at what Mary referred to as "the hate gas station" as it was decked out in all the "Fuck Joe Biden" memorabilia you can imagine and lovely scriptures written all over the bathroom stalls. As we continued driving, the landscape was straight up dizzying - I describe it as if you took an enormous image of a farm into Photoshop, hit "Command C", and "Command V'd" all over the place for hours. I'll also add that Iowa felt moisturized...Nebraska was THIRSTY for some Aveeno stat.
COLORADO...oh my sweet beautiful demon of sleep paralysis Colorado...you were something else. The ever increasing anxiety I had been feeling was due to this damn state, as I knew mountains were coming...BIG fucking mountains. The state is beautiful, I'll give you that. I decided in our last night in Nebraska, after a tear-soaked dinner over cheeseburgers (I hate crying when I'm trying to eat! Especially my favorite food!!!) to sleep on it. I'd wake up and decide whether or not we'd trek through Colorado, or take a more southern route through New Mexico and Arizona. I woke up and decided to go for it, and though I am proud of myself for what I did, I would not do it again. At least not in a 2010 2-wheel Toyota Corolla...big lolz. Don't get me wrong - Toyotas are beasts and Lola Bean crushed this whole trip.
UTAH was so ORANGE - my god! I'd never seen so many burning shades of orange in one place. I'd fully been expecting slate, grey, deep greens, and navy blues, not the surface of the sun! I liked Utah a lot, even though we passed town after town with NO SERVICE warnings...heed my advice and be sure to gas up ASAP! We ended up staying three nights in a super cute cottage/Air B and B situation in a town called Panguitch (ha!) that was only three square miles in size. We toured the shops and dined at both/the only two restaurants the town seemed to have, and finally watched Bridges of Madison County. We also got to explore Bryce Canyon which was by far one of my very favorite parts of the trip. Lots and lots of orange again, and HOO DOOS! Hoo doos have got to be the coolest damn natural things in the world. All that pressure they form under...I love it and want to explore them more in my work very soon.
ARIZONA - omg LOLZ. Mary and I both thought we were about to see the "Welcome to Nevada" sign and surprise, as soon as she raised her phone to take a photo "WELCOME TO ARIZONA" comes blazing up. We both nervously laughed and thought I'd made a wrong turn but nope! You slice through the most northwest corner of Arizona when you take the route we did. Arizona looked similar to Utah, perhaps somehow even drier? More Mars-y/the surface of the sun even?
And finally...NEVADA...!!! Mary missed taking a picture of the sign by a matter of seconds and I burst out laughing. I wasn't mad at all. In fact, there was an annoying pole of some sort blocking the view of it anyway. I was just thrilled to be in the state. I couldn't wait to see the Vegas skyline emerge like a true oasis. I'm pretty sure Strata was the first building I saw, and I've had a soft spot for her ever since. We made it by late afternoon/early evening, checked into Circa located in the Fremont/downtown area, cleaned up and changed, then set off to see "O" at the Bellagio. Everything was magical.
I can't say everything has stayed magical, but I still very much love it here. I moved here to begin my second MFA at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. The program is challenging and rewarding, and the cohort is awesome. The first year cohort consisting of all women is especially badass. I've made lots of new work, and have had a big fascination with cardboard, paper, photo-collage, painting, performance, and utilizing both comedy/humor and tragedy/horror in my projects. I love what I'm doing, but have also struggled big time with imposter syndrome, doubts galore, and frustration. It's double frustrating because I told myself I wasn't going to do that this time. Ha! Big mood.
Alas, over the winter break, I will update my site with new goodies, including the RED, WHITE, FREAK / WASH, WRING, REPEAT exhibition. There are some new things sprinkled throughout, so check through the pages and follow me on Instagram @katiebfunk if you'd like to see more daily shenanigans.
Till next time friends.
- I finished adjunct teaching at CCAD - this time, for good
- I helped execute a massive art exhibition at the Cultural Arts Center with over 250 works of art
- I had to quit my job at One Line Coffee due to scheduling conflicts - *tears*
- I opened RED, WHITE, FREAK / WASH, WRING, REPEAT in CAC's Loft Gallery
- I had a super fun weekend in Columbus with my Seeeeeeeester Sugie Bear (aka Mary)
- I participated in the aforementioned art festivals
- I went on lots of walks around the neighborhood
- I made a sick silver ring with a lost wax cast process with my friends Mary and Bethany
- I started selling all of my stuff - art, furniture, dishes, clothes, shoes, supplies, you name it
- I visited South Bend twice...or was it three times?
- I got to dog sit two of my favorites puppers twice - once right after the semester and almost two-and-a-half weeks in July
- I read Grace Coddington's memoir "Grace"
- I took the puppers on many walks
- I drank coffee and listened to lofi, jazz, Glass Animals, and Magic City Hippies in the mornings
- I cooked the best sweet potatoes I've ever had
- I watched tons of Purple Palace and Fran Meneses YouTube videos
- I donated massive amounts of my belongings
- I started packing everything I own
- I got boxes from FedEx so big I didn't even know they made them in this size
- I stress cried, a lot
- I got really, really excited...
- I stress cried some more
- I had my car checked out
- I said goodbye to my little bungalow one bedroom apartment
- I stayed several nights with my friends India and Ian
- I paid way too much money to ship said massive boxes
- I dined on Rooster's one last time...
- I cried and waved at the mid-size city skyline one last time...
I SET OFF TO MY NEW HOME...
LAS VEGAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I arrived here August 14th, and WHAT a journey it was...my friend Mary (who I made the awesome ring with!!) came with me on the trip, and I am so glad she was with me to see this beast of a journey through. I had never traversed that much of the country before, let alone that many states. Our first stop was to the ole hometown of South Bend, Indiana, where we stayed two nights and got to visit with friends and family one last time before departure.
We journeyed, in total, through Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and finally into the motherland of Nevada. OHIO went by in a blink. Same thing with INDIANA, with the home pit stop to South Bend in between. ILLINOIS sucked to put it nicely - torrential rain resulting in me hydroplaning next to a semi...my heart is still in my butt. The only redeeming factor was the break we took at a Chili's, LOL!
IOWA was just as green as I imagined she would be, with the delightful surprise of SO many wind turbines. I started to feel like I was on a rollercoaster...it was much hillier than I was expecting. We stayed one night in Winterset, exploring this town more the next day. This included a dirt road I refused to traverse that I shit you not had to have been at least 80-85 degrees in angle. We were on a quest to find the original covered bridge of the movie Bridges of Madison County and managed to re-route and find it another way. Whew...Iowa you be wildin'.
NEBRASKA was about as yellow as I was expecting, and just SO. FUCKING. BIG. I didn't realize I'd become such a silly little city girl till this state...it felt like someone had ripped the sky open it was that expansive feeing. This should have been lovely, but my nerves were getting more and more shot. The move, the stress, the changes - all of it was so exciting but also so scary and sad and wonderful and hard. The people were...well, peeeeeeeople...HA! We stopped at one point at what Mary referred to as "the hate gas station" as it was decked out in all the "Fuck Joe Biden" memorabilia you can imagine and lovely scriptures written all over the bathroom stalls. As we continued driving, the landscape was straight up dizzying - I describe it as if you took an enormous image of a farm into Photoshop, hit "Command C", and "Command V'd" all over the place for hours. I'll also add that Iowa felt moisturized...Nebraska was THIRSTY for some Aveeno stat.
COLORADO...oh my sweet beautiful demon of sleep paralysis Colorado...you were something else. The ever increasing anxiety I had been feeling was due to this damn state, as I knew mountains were coming...BIG fucking mountains. The state is beautiful, I'll give you that. I decided in our last night in Nebraska, after a tear-soaked dinner over cheeseburgers (I hate crying when I'm trying to eat! Especially my favorite food!!!) to sleep on it. I'd wake up and decide whether or not we'd trek through Colorado, or take a more southern route through New Mexico and Arizona. I woke up and decided to go for it, and though I am proud of myself for what I did, I would not do it again. At least not in a 2010 2-wheel Toyota Corolla...big lolz. Don't get me wrong - Toyotas are beasts and Lola Bean crushed this whole trip.
UTAH was so ORANGE - my god! I'd never seen so many burning shades of orange in one place. I'd fully been expecting slate, grey, deep greens, and navy blues, not the surface of the sun! I liked Utah a lot, even though we passed town after town with NO SERVICE warnings...heed my advice and be sure to gas up ASAP! We ended up staying three nights in a super cute cottage/Air B and B situation in a town called Panguitch (ha!) that was only three square miles in size. We toured the shops and dined at both/the only two restaurants the town seemed to have, and finally watched Bridges of Madison County. We also got to explore Bryce Canyon which was by far one of my very favorite parts of the trip. Lots and lots of orange again, and HOO DOOS! Hoo doos have got to be the coolest damn natural things in the world. All that pressure they form under...I love it and want to explore them more in my work very soon.
ARIZONA - omg LOLZ. Mary and I both thought we were about to see the "Welcome to Nevada" sign and surprise, as soon as she raised her phone to take a photo "WELCOME TO ARIZONA" comes blazing up. We both nervously laughed and thought I'd made a wrong turn but nope! You slice through the most northwest corner of Arizona when you take the route we did. Arizona looked similar to Utah, perhaps somehow even drier? More Mars-y/the surface of the sun even?
And finally...NEVADA...!!! Mary missed taking a picture of the sign by a matter of seconds and I burst out laughing. I wasn't mad at all. In fact, there was an annoying pole of some sort blocking the view of it anyway. I was just thrilled to be in the state. I couldn't wait to see the Vegas skyline emerge like a true oasis. I'm pretty sure Strata was the first building I saw, and I've had a soft spot for her ever since. We made it by late afternoon/early evening, checked into Circa located in the Fremont/downtown area, cleaned up and changed, then set off to see "O" at the Bellagio. Everything was magical.
I can't say everything has stayed magical, but I still very much love it here. I moved here to begin my second MFA at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. The program is challenging and rewarding, and the cohort is awesome. The first year cohort consisting of all women is especially badass. I've made lots of new work, and have had a big fascination with cardboard, paper, photo-collage, painting, performance, and utilizing both comedy/humor and tragedy/horror in my projects. I love what I'm doing, but have also struggled big time with imposter syndrome, doubts galore, and frustration. It's double frustrating because I told myself I wasn't going to do that this time. Ha! Big mood.
Alas, over the winter break, I will update my site with new goodies, including the RED, WHITE, FREAK / WASH, WRING, REPEAT exhibition. There are some new things sprinkled throughout, so check through the pages and follow me on Instagram @katiebfunk if you'd like to see more daily shenanigans.
Till next time friends.
entry nine
Springtime Shenanigans
The first few months of 2022 have been a blistering blur. I've continued working at the Cultural Arts Center, am teaching two sections of Drawing for Entertainment Design at CCAD (one section in-person, one section virtual - as exhausting of a combination as it sounds) and just last week started my third job at One Line Coffee in Franklinton. The three-gig-life will luckily be short lived, as the semester wraps up in the next three-and-a-half-weeks. My Tuesdays/Thursdays now consist of being up at 5AM, working 6AM to 12PM at One Line, teaching in-person 12:30-3:15PM, and finishing up with the Cultural Arts Center from 3:30-6:30PM. Tonight, however, I added on a three hour session of portraiture modeling at the McConnell Arts Center. If this doesn't have mania-inducing energy written all over it, I don't know what does - LOL!
In addition to the bananas multi-gig life, I'm participating in a number of fairs and festivals this spring! To start, I participated in CCAD's Spring Art Fair almost two weeks ago, and think I did the best I've ever done in terms of sales and prep beforehand. I told myself not to overkill it with inventory - things left over can always transition to the next festival/fair. Merch included earrings made from the cardboard of La Croix boxes, framed cacti drawings, framed fruit/vegetable drawings, "goofy perspective" drawings of my apartment's interior, and a $5 grab box of random drawings over the last few years. I always feel like I take such a different approach to these kinds of events in comparison to exhibitions of my work ("merch" vs. "work" maybe?) but don't mind it. I like having a lot of diversity in what I create. In early May, I'll be participating in the first ever Columbus Alternative Art Book Fair in Weinland Park, which will happen over two days the first weekend (5/7 - 5/8, 12-5PM). At the end of May, I'll be a part of the Friendship Flea that's popping up in Clintonville. This will take place 5/22, 12-5PM on 3535 N. High Street. I can't wait for both!
Alas, the madness will end soon enough (I think???), and I'll be celebrating on Friday (the 13th, bwahahaha) of May (semester officially O-V-E-R) by dancing my ass off at a Taylor Swift themed night at Skully's, drinking a ghastly amount of tequila, and dog sitting two of my favorite puppers over that same weekend - come to mama...
Also, a GIGANTIC announcement is coming soon...stay tuned! For now, peeps some of my recent fair/festival creations!
In addition to the bananas multi-gig life, I'm participating in a number of fairs and festivals this spring! To start, I participated in CCAD's Spring Art Fair almost two weeks ago, and think I did the best I've ever done in terms of sales and prep beforehand. I told myself not to overkill it with inventory - things left over can always transition to the next festival/fair. Merch included earrings made from the cardboard of La Croix boxes, framed cacti drawings, framed fruit/vegetable drawings, "goofy perspective" drawings of my apartment's interior, and a $5 grab box of random drawings over the last few years. I always feel like I take such a different approach to these kinds of events in comparison to exhibitions of my work ("merch" vs. "work" maybe?) but don't mind it. I like having a lot of diversity in what I create. In early May, I'll be participating in the first ever Columbus Alternative Art Book Fair in Weinland Park, which will happen over two days the first weekend (5/7 - 5/8, 12-5PM). At the end of May, I'll be a part of the Friendship Flea that's popping up in Clintonville. This will take place 5/22, 12-5PM on 3535 N. High Street. I can't wait for both!
Alas, the madness will end soon enough (I think???), and I'll be celebrating on Friday (the 13th, bwahahaha) of May (semester officially O-V-E-R) by dancing my ass off at a Taylor Swift themed night at Skully's, drinking a ghastly amount of tequila, and dog sitting two of my favorite puppers over that same weekend - come to mama...
Also, a GIGANTIC announcement is coming soon...stay tuned! For now, peeps some of my recent fair/festival creations!
entry eight
oh what fun, 2021
Twenty one hand painted bags for ROY G BIV Gallery's smallworks 2021 exhibition (and my infamous, beat-to-shit yellow Crocs) (and yes, it's really been an entire year since my last entry...more frequent updates is a '22 resolution! ;)).
entry seven
"The Dairy Queen's Gambit"
"The Dairy Queen's Gambit" - a cheeseburger themed chess set created for ROY G BIV Gallery's "Peace Out 2020" smallworks exhibition.
Hungry? Let's play!
Hungry? Let's play!
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entry six
"CHRUMP 2020"
"CHRUMP 2020" digital renderings - hoping to realize these into a hand cut paper form, wall-bound, and tentatively installed in a gallery space in February 2021.
Digital sketch of installation, each one to be backlit by fluorescent "MAGA" red:
entry five
Extraction 101...
New work in the making and on exhibit in early December...
entry four
WILIL DRAW YOUR ZOOM MEETING FOR FOOD
Illustration/Comics Department Meeting - May 1st, 2020
entry three
Can you "break" paper?
Latest evolution in recent work involves figuring out how to "break" paper. Playing with shatter patterns, ways to fragment, and continuing to use my little slice of the sky as a light box.
Times are really weird friends...keep making. <3
entry two
"Come to my window..."
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Test pieces for a new body of work I will be exhibiting in September 2020. Playing with light, entrances and exits, surface manipulation, and condensation as a means to convey exact moments of grief both instantaneously pierced and strenuously revisited.
entry one
Playing with ghosts...
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Sifting through old images (left, fall 2018) and new images (right, last night - 1/24/2020) I still think about the next iteration of junk dazzle silhouettes - the body interacting with material/more abstraction of the body itself vs. letting the body totally be as is - no forced positioning or trying to appear a certain calibrated and calculated way (i.e. "hot"). Even still, there are familiar positions I automatically fall back to in both of these shots - a body language inherently ingrained. Culling through research, I find a summary of women and the incessant photographing of themselves for the internet in Peggy Orenstein's "Girls and Sex" (2016) familiarly stinging - "a commercialized, one-dimensional, infinitely replicated, and, frankly, unimaginative vision of sexiness...set to perform rather than to feel sensuality." Had I performed the acts of mania and depression rather than felt them? Can you make someone "feel" your body, by how you present your body?
Early on in the summer of 2018, still in the haze of postgraduate purgatory, I wondered what it would be like to know the arrangement/pairing/partner/interaction I wanted beforehand, and execute it during the initial photographing process. Before, hundreds of images were shot, arranged, printed, extracted, and paired together in any way I saw fit - like a puzzle where the pieces were never tethered to a greater whole. The shots below in my then apartment demonstrate my new attempt:
Early on in the summer of 2018, still in the haze of postgraduate purgatory, I wondered what it would be like to know the arrangement/pairing/partner/interaction I wanted beforehand, and execute it during the initial photographing process. Before, hundreds of images were shot, arranged, printed, extracted, and paired together in any way I saw fit - like a puzzle where the pieces were never tethered to a greater whole. The shots below in my then apartment demonstrate my new attempt:
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...followed up with some pleasingly crude digital collaging...
...resulting in an equally crude drawing on tracing paper I quite like.
Lately, and ironically enough, I've thought that me / my body / my face/ anything directly and obviously mememememe should take a backseat visually in newer work, at least for a little while. I don't know exactly why; perhaps fatigue or feeling it's all too repetitive. Regardless of reason, the uncertainty and inner struggle will ultimately feed the work itself...
It always does.
entry zero
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