Kat Cadena

Teaching Artist/Instructor ; Visual Arts : Ceramist , Conservation/Restoration , Illustrator , Mixed Media Artist , Muralist , Painter

Kat Cadena is a multimedia artist, celebrated muralist and independent illustrator. She was raised by multiple generations of strong, proud and fierce mestiza women in San Antonio, Texas. Cadena’s bright pink portraits and murals depict unflinchingly emotional subjects, most often, women. Surrounded by monumental, flowing medicinal herbs and flowers, her works are a nod to a simultaneous keeping of tradition and an intentional breaking of cycles.

Artist Statement of Work

Tell us about your work (style, approach, philosophy, subject and/or theme):

In my work, I often personify difficult feelings women experience that some of us have survived and some were unable to overcome. The forces that push my hands to create are a mix of personal and ancestral trauma; entangled feelings of pride and shame, desperation for safety and inevitable terror, and the intricate, knotted feelings that so many women endure and attempt to heal throughout their often painful lives. Learning from my grandmother and elders, I incorporate traditional medicine into my work, hoping to spark interest or uncover memories of community and self-healing using the native plants around us. Through this creative, reflective process, I join hearts with my sisters, empower each other through our mutual understanding, and seek to inspire awareness, care, and transformation of our condition and position in society. Despite the dark themes driving my work, it is often colorful, light, refreshing and energizing in appearance. Such is life; sadness, happiness, terror, and glee can all happen within a few moments. The idea is that beyond the darkness lies power, resistance, community, growth, and love. Despite all odds, we bloom.