artist statement

My work explores the intersection of memory, place, and ancestry. Through drawing and mixed media, I investigate how personal and collective histories linger within domestic spaces and photographs, inviting viewers to imagine the lives and stories embedded within them.

Years of researching my family history led me to three early‑twentieth‑century photo albums that became the foundation of my practice. I began by incorporating these images into collage, layering antique photographs with line drawings, maps, and contemporary imagery. Seeking a more atmospheric presence, I started printing on tracing paper, allowing layers of past and present to visually merge. This process marked the beginning of what I call art and ancestry—work that exists between documentation and imagination.

After several years of working in collage, I returned to drawing as my primary medium. Using graphite and colored pencil, I render images derived from my own photographs, carefully altered through cropping, lighting, and color to establish mood and narrative tension. I integrate historical imagery selectively, allowing it to surface subtly within the composition. The labor‑intensive nature of drawing slows the process and reinforces the contemplative quality of the work.

I consider myself a storyteller. My drawings are intentionally open‑ended, offering fragments rather than conclusions. By combining meticulous draftsmanship with translucent layering and quiet atmospheres, I aim to create work that feels both intimate and unresolved, spaces where memory, imagination, and history coexist. As one gallery owner described, my work is “something both edgy and simultaneously comforting… leaving our imaginations reeling and our connection to the past renewed.”

Bio

A native of Wisconsin, Kathryn earned a BA in Art from the University of Texas at Dallas, and after living in Texas and North and South Carolina, Kathryn and her husband made their way back to the midwest and currently reside in Michigan.

Her work has been shown in various international juried exhibitions, such as Martha’s Vinyard Drawing Prize, and UNC Asheville Drawing Discourse, as well as in Colored Pencil magazine, Ann Kullberg’s Color magazine, and was a category winner in PleinAir Salon’s competition. Her work is collected world-wide, and she is the recipient of various awards for both her mixed media art and drawings.

To Purchase contact Kathryn directly at kathrynregel@gmail.com

COMMISSIONS

Do you have vintage photos of your ancestors? Kathryn is happy to create a custom piece of art for you that tells their story. Please contact her directly at kathrynregel@gmail.com

What People are Saying

When we originally came across her, our first thought was that her work is simply super cool. Kathryn is a spectacularly talented artist with an uncanny ability to tell a mysterious and exciting story in her work. There is a sense of wonder captured in her pieces that also makes us wonder as well. Who are the people? I wonder what life has happened within those walls? There’s a distinct nod to the past in her work, but a relevance with today maintained in each of her pieces. We can all find a little bit of ourselves within the imagination of her art.

Kathryn received her BA in Art from the University of Texas at Dallas, but like so many of our incredible artist friends, she caught the drawing bug at a very early age. Her fascination with art and ancestry began almost five years ago when she inherited three family photo albums from the early 1900’s. As someone who has a Rubbermaid tub of ancestral photographs gathering dust in my own basement, I was immediately drawn to the way that Kathryn pulled those old photographs out of the albums and into the present with an everlasting imaginative application. Frankly, she gave those old photos new life and stories that will long outlive the very paper they are printed on. There is something both edgy and simultaneously comforting about Kathryn’s work. It leaves us with our imaginations reeling, a sense of delight ignited, and a connection to the past renewed.

- Logan Wolfram, ArtRoomGvl, 2023

"Kathryn Regel has been described as a weaver of stories; her work, a unique combination of art, memories and ancestry."

Mountain Times, Aug 19 2023