Kathryn Freeman

Narrative figurative landscape of a relaxing afternoon in Hyde Park, London

1989

Kathryn Freeman is a narrative painter who combines classical composition with magical realism. Freeman’s career as a painter began when she lived and worked with her uncle, the American landscape painter Robert Jordan, in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. She later studied at University of New Hampshire and completed her master’s degree at Brooklyn College, studying with Milet Andrejevic, Lennart Andersen, Philip Pearlstein and Joseph Groell. She had six exhibitions at Tatistcheff Gallery in NYC from 1983-2003. Freeman has also exhibited in London, Los Angeles, Boston, Washington DC and in Europe. Shortly after her first New York City exhibition Kathryn Freeman moved to Europe in 1984. While living in Warsaw, Poland, with her husband, journalist Matthew Vita, she was inspired by the symbolism and allegory characteristic of Polish culture. After spending six years in London she returned home to live in Maryland, outside of Washington DC. Her love and fascination with animals has become even more evident in her later works. "The figure is a never-ending source of inspiration for me. In my paintings, I try to create harmonious order out of the confusion and randomness of every day existence – order in which form and content merge to create a convincing world and a believable narrative. In using classical composition, I continue in the great tradition of early Renaissance masters that I admire, such as Piero della Francesca, Giotto, and Masaccio. I also try to distill forms – the figure, buildings, trees – down to their very essence. In doing so, I hope to give them an enduring presence and universality. I am interested in transposing the metaphorical into the literal and I often use both allegory and symbolism to do so. I have always been interested in the writings of Carl Jung and the idea that there is a language of archetypal images or symbols that can be interpreted universally. There are certain images that appear repeatedly in my paintings such as dogs, birds, horses and other animals, trees, hearts – all images from everyday life but also ones that kindle deeper interpretation. The settings of my paintings are almost always gleaned from my immediate surroundings and personal experiences. In all my work, the composition is structured to support and clarify the narrative, whether it is by means of a classical frieze or an arrangement of geometric forms and linear perspective. My greatest intention, and reason for painting, is to express something both meaningful and truthful about the human condition." Kathryn Freeman