by Kathy Guest

“I’m originally from the New York metropolitan area – suburban
New Jersey - and even after 20+ years living in the Hocking Hills,
I still find it kind of startling to think that I now live in an
Appalachian rural community. My art has been about connecting
with people for decades and that effort remains with me as well,
though I now also find my natural elements entering my more
feminine/feminist symbolism.  I’ve always been fascinated by and
enticed by patterns and now use botanical elements such as
leaves and often butterflies as elements in my work. I make one
of a kind dimensional paper pieces that use paper faces that are
made from life casts. Many of the other elements in my work are
embossed from linoleum plates I’ve cut by hand and then cut the
resulting paper into other shapes that I also fold and curl, and
otherwise manipulate.”

Kathy Guest is a paper artist with a BFA in Printmaking from
Temple University who studied in Rome, Italy. She is a member of
an artists’ cooperative gallery in Nelsonville, Ohio, Majestic
Galleries. She is also a member of the International Association of
Hand Papermakers and Paper Artists (IAPMA), the world’s
leading organization for paper artists.  She exhibits locally,
regionally and internationally and has work in collections in the
US, Poland, Bulgaria and Turkey.