Kathryn Polk Portfolio Box

Mothers and Daughters, 2026, $3000

"I was born in the South during the 1950s. Growing up, I often discovered small, hidden charcoal drawings that my mother had made of my older sister and me when we were young. These sketches were masterful, reminiscent of classical life studies by artists like Mary Cassatt and Berthe Morisot. Though her drawing diminished over time, my mother’s passion for art never faded. She frequently took me to the Brooks Art Museum in Memphis, where we would stand captivated before Bouguereau’s Au pied de la falaise (At the Foot of the Cliff). Looking back, this was the beginning of my artistic education; my mother consistently sought beauty in the world.
Fascinated by art, I studied it from grade school through college, drawing daily and believing it was my true calling. I often wondered if my mother saw a reflection of herself in my devotion.
Although my career took several detours, I returned to art around 2002. Even as my sister and I grew apart over the years, I remained curious about our parallel lives and continued referencing her and my mother in my sketchbooks. Keeping a sketchbook has always been my safe space to process daily experiences—much like a journal. Over time, I developed a private visual language of symbols and imagined escapes to navigate life's pressures. Some sketches depict personal survival during difficult times; lately, I often imagine escaping to Saturn when overwhelmed by world events, politics, or personal struggles.
I rarely work from photographs or external references, preferring to draw from memory and embrace imperfections. My sketchbook is a space with few rules where I feel free to experiment with color, materials, composition, and content. After learning stone lithography from my husband, a master lithographer, my sketches found a new purpose, serving as the foundation for prints where my personal narratives are editioned as multiples.
What my mother envisioned for me differed from the artist I became. I grapple with personal narratives that serve as a cathartic outlet for daily struggles, sometimes contending with my mother’s persistent advice to always look on the bright side. Today, I have a daughter and a granddaughter who are also driven by artistic expression, though their medium is music (viola, violin and composing) rather than visual art. I believe my mother lives on through my work, and I still carry her teachings. I hope to pass everything I learned from her down to my daughter, so she, too, can encourage her daughter to pursue her own artistic dreams—continuing our mother-daughter legacy." ~ Kathryn Polk

Suite comes in handmade engraved clamshell box with museum gloves and artist statement.