Kat Bawden (she/they) is an artist and educator in Chicago whose work explores and mediates relationships between the body, memory, and the self. Working with sensitivity to our physiological connection to light, her photography, video installations, and performances activate viewers’ bodies as a medium for somatic experience and emotional exchange.
Kat holds an MFA in Photography from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where she was awarded the James Weinstein Memorial Fellowship. Kat teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is a 2023-2024 Artist-in-Residence with CPS Lives. Before becoming an artist, she studied social science and environmental science at the University of Michigan and worked as a community organizer and teacher for nearly a decade.
Her work has been featured in Artforum, Der Grief, Lenscratch, Chicago Reader, and others. She has exhibited and performed at the International Center of Photography, the International Museum of Surgical Science, the Los Angeles Center of Photography, Iceberg Projects, Filter Photo, and others.
In 2023 she started MURMURATION, an exhibition space and artist book imprint in Chicago.
Contact: bawdenka@gmail.com // Instagram // CV
