ABOUT ME
Kaitlyn Dressel creates large-scale abstract paintings and photographs that unfold as conversations — between body and surface, attention and surrender, silence and response. Across both mediums, her work is rooted in gesture, intuition, and the imperfect, childlike marks and moments that emerge when expectations loosen and presence takes over.
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Working across expansive canvases and through the camera lens, Kaitlyn allows material and moment to lead. In her paintings, pools of pigment, rough scribbles, and layered washes accumulate slowly over time. In her photography, light, gesture, texture, and atmosphere are approached with the same patience and restraint, noticed rather than directed. She often works across multiple pieces and scenes at once, allowing space between decisions so that each work can settle before she returns to it.
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Some works arrive with ease; others resist, becoming arguments or quiet confrontations that require listening, trust, and time. Whether responding to a mark on canvas or a subtle shift within a scene, every decision is shaped by what came before — a rhythm, a dialogue, a story unfolding through unexpected transitions.
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Her practice explores what happens when the body interprets language, emotion, and memory without relying on words. Paint is allowed to move, bleed, and assert itself, guided by gravity, time, and forces beyond full control. Similarly, her photographs emerge through observation rather than orchestration, holding moments where stillness, intimacy, and suspended time can be felt rather than explained. In both, intention meets surrender, and the work shifts away from what was planned toward what wants to be revealed.
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Creation, for Kaitlyn, is an act of vulnerability. As she engages with the canvas or the camera, she is changed by the process. Each layer and image carries purpose and presence, shaped through waiting, observation, and restraint — an often challenging practice of stillness. Though the results may appear raw or spontaneous, nothing is careless; every gesture and frame is held with attention and respect.
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Ultimately, her work seeks connection. Whether through paint or photography, the pieces function as quiet spaces where feeling can be shared rather than defined — where viewers are invited to sense something familiar in their own bodies. Through these layered conversations, Kaitlyn hopes the work can speak, comfort, and move in ways language cannot, honoring the empathetic core of what it means to be human.