Kathy Reed and Steven Breaux create individual work and collaborative pieces and exhibitions.


STATEMENT FOR COLLABORATIVE WORK

Kathy Reed and Steven Breaux have been collaborating since 1996. Simply, our work deals with various levels of a sense of place. Perhaps the idea of location is more accurate as our work includes historical and cultural issues of South Louisiana and the American South and moves into personal and universal concerns having to do with the land, the section of earth upon which we co-inhabit and the intense relationship between ourselves and the natural elements in our immediate surroundings.

These concerns have led us to engage in processes that include the ritual of burying or planting segments of silk in the ground to obtain a direct imprint, a drawing, of the earth beneath our feet. We have kept journals of dreams and recorded them on magnolia seedpods and taken time-lapse photos of the seeds as they gradually exited the pod. We have planted the dream pods on our land as a symbolic gesture. We have written dreams, letter by letter on the seeds and planted them.
* We have started long-term processes such as documenting every plant in the yard through drawing and we have Planting in the Grid by photographing every 30”x30” segment. As a way to obtain an image directly from the earth we are in the process of planting/burying a 6”x6” piece of silk fabric in the center of each segment. Linking the process to the rituals of farming and harvesting by the Acadians of 17th century Nova Scotia and in the settlements in South Louisiana we will harvest the fields of planted silk and attach them creating a single piece.*
Kathy Reed has a BFA in Painting and Printmaking from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
Steven Breaux is an Associate Professor of Visual Art at the University of Louisiana @Lafayette.

Organization of our site:

ABOVE & BELOW AND WITHIN & WITHOUT 2008 -This is an exhibit of our last complete body of work.
EARTH DRAWINGS DOCUMENTING THE PROCESS 2008 -This is the
documentation of a piece in the ABOVE & BELOW exhibition.

CURRENT WORK IN PROGRESS 2010 -Different aspects of what we are working on.
FINISHED PIECES 2010 -Recently completed work.
PLANTING IN THE GRID 2010 -In progress, examples and implements.

WORK FROM 2001-2007 -Earlier work from various exhibitions.
Sky, Mud and Bones 2002 -An exhibit.

WORK FROM 1997 - 2000
L'Homme du Sud 1997
Visions & Sediment 2000 -work from various exhibits.