CONTEMPORARY ARTIST, Kathleen Izzo, is a mixed media artist who has been developing her art since she was a small child. From her earliest years, Kathleen exhibited interest in putting things together to make artistic sculptures from 'found objects' she collected. Her acrylic, found objects, fabric, plaster, and wood-based works of art are autobiographical in nature. They depict her deep Christian faith and her individual relationship with a loving God.
Most of her images emanate directly from the Lord through times of daily prayer and worship. Oftentimes, she receives graphic images of her subject-matter during everyday situations.
Kathleen attended Long Island pubic schools up until her college year. She spent her undergraduate years at Manhattanville College, The State University'Arte of Urbino, Italy (the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance artist, Rafael), she learned the trade of woodcutting and the art of restoration. After extensive training in a restoration studio, she restored actual frescoes and marble portals dating from the 12th to the 16th century all over Italy. As part of her work with other restorers, a mural was discovered in Ancona, Italy. She learned these skills by being apprenticed in the studios of master artists. The first-hand experience abroad, coupled with extensive travel to museums all over Europe, has permanently chiseled her vision and scope as an artist and teacher. Her last year at The University of Purchase, in Purchase, New York she became an Assistant Researcher to the Neuberger Museum, where she helped coordinate art show honoring artists such as Rembrandt, Claes Oldenburg, Philip Glass, and more.
While at Purchase, she illustrated and printed her own book depicting in line etching, excerpts from Dante's Inferno. After receiving her master in art education, she taught adults in various art forums all over New York City, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Most of her sculptural paintings were created after receiving her first art scholarship as an artist/teacher at The Summer Six Art Program; an intensive 5 week art residency, at Skidmore College, in Saratoga, New York.
She has since completed six art residency programs at Skidmore College, where she was artistically critiqued by famous contemporary artists. While at The Summer Six Art residencies, Kathleen has had a myriad of summers to explore and refine her artwork. Her sculptural paintings have been exhibited at many art galleries including The Chelsea House Museum, The Museum of Fine Art in Long Island, Sotheby's, The Broome Street Gallery in New York City and many more. Kathleen had a one-woman art exhibit at the Garibaldi-Meucci Museum, in Staten Island, New York in 2003. She even had the priviledge of bringing her own New York City students to see her sculptural paintings at this museum. As a teacher of fine art in the New York City Public schools for many years, Kathleen has endeaored not only to develop and produce her own artwork, but also to hone and direct the skills of her students through innovative projects and by involving her pupils in artist's competitions and projects which allow the combination of different artistic disciplines and exposure in various public forums. Student artwork has been displayed in places such as The Queen's Museum, Sotheby's Auction House, The Asia Society, The New York City Ballet, The Tweed Building, and more.
Kathleen's paintings, sculptural in nature exhibits her fascination with texture, pattern, color and the use of Found Objects in her three dimensional paintings. The concept that 'God doesn't make junk' is the foundation of her work. What others see as 'junk', she sees as individual treasures that become different parts of her works of art. Giclee Printing, a method of reproducing artwork, is an effective printing techique that has been used in printing studios in recent years. The word 'Giclee', a French word, is translated as the spilling on of paint. This printing process enables artist's works to be reproduced with a high level of accuracy to origional works of art. Photographed digitally and scanned into the computer, giclees are printed with high quality printers (Epson) on canvas or paper, with inks that not only match original colors, but also that last for 200 years.