Interview by Jimon

1. Where do you currently reside and work?  I live and work in London, UK

2. How would you describe Kate Trafeli?  An exhibitionistic introvert.

3. Did you attend an art school or is it inherent?  Both. I attended a liberal arts university and have a degree in Painting and English Literature.

4. How long have you been making art and what lead you to start?  I have been painting since I was about three years old; my grandmother was a painter and ceramist and working with her in her studio is one of my first memories.

5. How did you acquire your style?  Working through many phases from strict representational work to cubism to what I would call ‘lyrical abstraction’ as being my current style. It is an evolving thing.

6. Have you ever come across a piece of art that you could not or did not want to stop looking at?  Many times. Especially JFK Turner and M Rothko’s work who fortunately (by Rothko’s design/request) are side by side in London at the Tate Britain. Also anything by John Singer Sargent.

7. Tell us something about the art world that you want to see changed?  The separation between collectors and artists – most artists want to talk to those who are interested in their work but we rarely have the chance to have in depth first-person conversations with critics, curators or collectors.

8. Why make art?  It’s a compulsion. There is no ‘why’ for me: it is just – necessary.

9. The future is _________?  Bleak with intermittent flashes of hope and change.

10. What is your thought on the following statement; Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable!  I think Mexican poet/activist Cesar A. Cruz’ phrase is a worthwhile distillation of the idea that art can soothe those who are in emotional pain as well as wake up those who are complacent or unaware of the plights of others. It is a valid idea although the ‘should’ is not how I see what art’s purpose is but rather that is part of a multi-layered role art can play in society and in the individual.
11. What advice would you give putative collectors? Buy what you love and be open to your own taste growing and changing. Look at lots of art in lots of places. Don’t be afraid to buy art from unknowns, or to save for a well known artist. Know that it is fine to fall out of love with a work you once admired fiercely, and equally o.k. to feel passionate about an artist you once disliked

12. What’s the best advice you have ever received in regards to your art?  To keep pursuing it, to keep making it – to not give it up despite many daunting and long term obstacles.

13. How do you define success?  As a person?Happiness and being loved by those you love. As an artist? Being truly satisfied with a work I have made – and having my work at one of the Tates while I’m still alive!

14. Do you have a place/person/thing that you visit for inspiration?  Places: Victoria & Albert Museum, the Welcome Collection. Persons: my brother in the beautiful Oregon woods. Thing: Books… And…Music is not a place/person or thing (or not only) but is hugely inspiring to me – attending a live concert can affect everything I am working on in incredible ways.
15. If you could have dinner with 3 artists living/dead who would be at your table?  Louise Nevelson, Nick Cave and Hew Locke

16. Name three things you can’t live without in your studio? Music and light – and my old Adidas

17. How would someone find you on Social Media?  Instagram @katetrafeli

18. Please name the first thing that comes to your mind while reading the following:
Art=Now
Food=Always
Sports=Ice skating!
Politics=Infuriating
Poor=Sadness
God=Dead
Rich=How
Luxury=Time
Sex=Great
Picasso=Everywhere
Religion=Misguided
Rothko=Pain-Pleasure