Kate Hendrickson

Who are we? How much do we conceal? Kate Hendrickson’s inquiry begins with the history of the Crypto-Jews who outwardly converted during the Inquisition but continued to practice their religion, disguising it ingeniously from the authorities. However despite concealing who they were, bits were still revealed to those who knew where to look. Jews for centuries have concealed their faith by hiding the symbols of Judaism for fear of antisemitism. To this day people still mask who they truly are for fear of rejection.Her artwork explores and reconciles feelings of discomfort within revealing that Judaism is the faith she has chosen. How much does she reveal? As you look closer at her works on paper, you will see that there are pieces of  concealed Hebrew words peaking out and revealing themselves from their surrounding abstracted urban and natural environs. She hopes that the personal inquiry within her drawings will help everyone feel more comfortable proudly expressing who they really are.Kate Hendrickson lives and works in both Chicago and Sarasota. She earned her MFA from University of Denver and has been a visiting artist at the School of Art and Design of West Virginia University. She is a Visiting Committee Member to the College of Creative Arts of WVU and a Creative Consultant in their mentorship program.Hendrickson's work has been included in group exhibitions at Grace Howl Contemporary Art (Sarasota, FL), Bridgeport Art Center (Chicago, IL), ARC Gallery (Chicago, IL), the Art Center of Sarasota (Sarasota, FL) and SPAACES (Sarasota, FL). Her work has also been exhibited through Mesh Art Gallery (Chicago, IL ) at Print Fairs at the McNay Fine Art Museum (San Antonio, TX), Minneapolis Institute of Art (Minneapolis, MN), and the Cleveland Museum of Art (Cleveland, OH). She also completed a public commission through Art in Common Places (Sarasota, FL) which was a collaboration with poet, Mary Ladany

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