Katherine Matos-Gonzalez is a multidisciplinary artist and textile designer from Brooklyn, New York and currently residing in Cumberland County. She holds a BFA in Art and Design Education from Pratt Institute and an AAS and BFA in Textile and Surface Design from the Fashion Institute of Technology.

She has a passion to teach and learn. And her deep love for textiles and fibers has taken over her current art practice. She is a self-taught quilter and enjoys the improvisational method of creating patchworks. Her work is inspired by the juxtaposition of the abstract shapes, color and texture within her hand-dyed fabrics and the more rigid patterns of the patchwork. Katherine creates to ease the clutter in her mind and space, this process brings her peace, calm and creative resolution. She likes to “see what happens” with her fiber pieces. Venmo & Paypal: Katherine-Matos-Gonzalez

3 Things you can’t live without & why: Creatively speaking I CAN NOT live without my two senior dogs, sewing machine, and sketchbook. My two old men keep me company while I play away on my sewing machine and my sketchbook is near and dear to my heart. It contains so many ideas for future making.

Local artist (any genre, Cumberland County preferred) you admire: I haven’t had the opportunity to meet local artists, but  the artwork on display in the Public Arts shows is inspiring me to creatively connect with fellow artists.

What is one of your current artistic experiments? Painting future or imaginary quilt designs using opaque watercolors in my sketchbook.

What changed about your practice in 2020? Will you keep this change? Simply, I make more. Being homebound at the peak of Covid I discovered that gaining access to a variety of art classes and workshops was actually a lot easier. It’s always been a pleasure of mine to continue learning and gaining skills. And through zoom and other platforms I managed to take classes from around the country! I’ve always loved to supplement my creativity with the help of other creatives and this really helped my productivity and creativity. I also have the great privilege of having a spare room that I turned into a studio where I have my own space to make, freelance…  and keep a portion of my plant collection! My dogs also love the futon I apparently got for them. I will definitely try my hardest to continue learning and making in this new space of mine. 

How do you find your subject (next piece, idea, voice)? Rummaging through my collection of hand-made (woven, embroidered, silkscreened) hand-dyed fabrics, yarns and thread help me with my next piece. Looking at art history books and vintage textile art technique books are quite helpful as well.

Advice to newer artists in your genre. Don’t stop learning, use what you have to create, and save your scraps!