dialogue
Katja Farin | Artist
March 2025
7 min read
Katja Farin, originally from LA, has immersed themself in London's vibrant art scene while pursuing their MFA at UCL's SLADE School of Fine Art. Their artistic journey is a testament to exploration and innovation, fuelled by a desire to transcend conventional viewpoints. At SLADE, they embrace a process-driven approach, allowing their paintings to unfold organically as narratives that delve into subconscious emotions and psychological states.
Katja’s figures, free from rigid identities, serve as avatars open to interpretation, reflecting their personal journey with gender fluidity and informed by insights from queer theory.
Influenced early on by artists like Nicole Eisenman, Katja's work merges emotional depth with conceptual complexity, challenging viewers to explore the nuances of human experience and societal norms.
Drawing inspiration from sci-fi literature and philosophical musings, Katja's paintings evoke dreamlike realms where dysphoria and dissociation find expression through vibrant color palettes and evocative compositions.
Their upcoming exhibition at Gaa Gallery in NYC promises to showcase their evolving exploration of these themes, inviting viewers to confront and contemplate the boundaries of reality and emotion. Through their art, Katja continues to push artistic boundaries, aiming to redefine authenticity and emotional resonance in contemporary art discourse.
Hey Katja! I would love to firstly ask about your time here in London thus far, as you were born in LA, how are you finding London studying your MFA at, UCL?
“Yeah, I have really been loving London since I moved, a little under two years ago. I was born and raised in LA and was ready for a shift. I was feeling burnt out and wanted to explore a different side and add a new perspective to my practice. Being given the time at SLADE to really focus and experiment has been really exciting and productive.”
"I create narratives in my paintings that aren't bound to a real storyline or timeline...", I found this quote from you interesting, you are not restricting yourself to parameters, it sounds like you are allowing your work to exist in space and allowing the viewer to digest your work?
“As I paint I try to let the painting and figure tell me where to go. I leave my consciousness at the door, as much as I can. I see the paintings as moments of interaction, long feuds, psychological dramas that unfold in front of me. Sometimes they come from subconscious feelings and emotions.
I want the viewer to interpret and explore the work through their perspective. The figures represent emotional states that I have felt and are consistent in our collective consciousness like dissociation, loneliness, pent up anger, apathy, connection, contemplation, boredom and sparks of joy.”
Do you feel your work contributes to broader conversations in contemporary art, particularly around identity?
“Identity isn’t a central part of the work, but it of course influences how and who the figures are. I am really interested in the inbetween space of life, and as a nonbinary person I interact with this on a very personal level. I try to make figures that are avatars that can hold any gender if the viewer allows it. I think that contemporary art, mainly the market, wants to profit off of identity politics; we are all forced to reckon with our identity, we can’t escape it.
Queerness and queer theory is very important to me and the work, but not the driving force of my practice. I use queer theory as a lens to explore the margins and complexity of gender and the world as a whole around me.”
Your work reminds me of an exhibition I attended at The Whitechapel Gallery featuring the artist Nicole Eisenman's work. Are you familiar with her art? If so, what are your thoughts on her work?
“Yes, I have been compared to Eisneman many times, and she was a huge early inspiration for me. She is one of the few and first lesbian painters I saw and could position my practice alongside her lineage while I was starting to find my voice.”
Could you describe how you manage to create the dreamlike dysphoric spaces so effectively in your artwork?
“I think dysphoria and dissociation are very lived experiences for me and they come through the work in color, texture and composition. I try to tap into those feelings when I paint and let them run free. Sci-fi is also a huge inspiration for me, trying to depict a reality that is different but so similar to our own.
The things I read also come into the work as I paint, especially the ideas of Lauren Berlant, Karl Jung, Ursula Le Guin, Mark Fisher, Octavia Butler and anything on the paranormal and trickster archetypes-specifically the podcast Otherworld (a podcast about peoples paranormal experiences from a very subjective viewpoint) has been a huge inspiration.”
Your work is so powerful; I remember walking past your studio and personally, the pieces you were working on at the time were stunning.
I would love to know if you admire the work of other artists, and if so, who?
“Thank you so much! Yeah I have a show coming up at Gaa Gallery in NYC that opens on March 21st. I’m assuming that's some of the work you saw. Yeah I am constantly looking at other artists work some artists such as Anothony Cudahy, Dennis Scholl, Jade Thacker, Noah Davis, Matt Bollinger, Danielle Orchard, Felice Casorati, Jean Helion, Heironymous Bosch, Max Beckamn, Kathe Kolwitz, and Helene Schkerfbeck to name a few!”
Image credits:
1. Katja Farin in studio. Courtesy of the Artist.
2. Katja Farin, The Geese Art Going, 2021, Oil on Canvas, 139.7 x 165.1 cm. Courtesy of the Artist.
3. Katja Farin, Smoked Out, 2023, Oil on Canvas, 91.44 x 152.4 cm. Courtesy of the Artist.
4. Katja Farin, Pier Side Paper Dolls, 2024, Oil on Canvas, 150 x 130 cm. Courtesy of the Artist.
5. Katja Farin, Daytime Time Travel, 2025, Oil on Canvas, 210 x 150 cm. Courtesy of the Artist.
6. Katja Farin, Entering From Exiting, 2024, Oil on Canvas, 100 x 85 cm. Courtesy of the Artist.
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