Spartanburg Day School

The Dent Gallery is getting a splash of color with its first exhibit of the year. Artist Katherine Rausch’s “Color Shape Contour” exhibit will be on display in the Mildred Harrison Dent Fine Arts Center Gallery through Oct. 6 and beautifully represents how viewers see an object. 

“We see objects first by color, then shape, then contour,” Rausch said. “This progression is what sparked my creating of this exhibit. I wanted to take a hue down to its basic value and build it back up. It was the thrill of color mutiny. I wanted to explore rule-breaking.”

Rausch earned a degree in advertising design from Kendall School and, in addition to being a professional artist, currently works in the theatre as a state manager, prop master and scenic painter. She is also working as an assistant at the Spartanburg Science Center and this fall as a daily fixture at SDS teaching seventh grade art. 

“Katherine, like many artists, wears a coat of many colors that allows her to share her creativity and talent throughout the community,” said Sam Mitchell, Coordinator of the Mildred Harrison Dent Fine Arts Center.“After a year-long hiatus, we are so grateful to be exhibiting in the Dent Gallery again. Her work is a welcome splash of color, technique, and beauty too kick off the 2021-22 gallery season.”

There are four collections within the show: pet portraits, the role of women in history, social injustice, and the intersectionality of the feminine. Examples of Rausch’s nearly 400 pet portraits are on display and on a looping slide show. Her paintings of women in history “create a view of intersectionality while emphasizing discrimination and racial injustice,” she said.  The works related to social injustice were created in 2020 – “the year we learned about restrictions, integrity, social injustices, prejudices, and our obligation to do for others because that’s what is really important.” The last collection is “a rebirth” that examines the intersectionality of the feminine and how it relates to nature and the world around us.

 A reception for “Color Shape Contour” is scheduled for Sept. 9 from 5 to 6:30 p.m. For safety, all visitors will be required to wear a face covering while inside the gallery.