Image by Scott Doubt Photography
Kate Roy is an Emerging Canadian artist and has found a passion for research within the art world. She is a writer, performer, experimentalist and a student of life. Her art practice is a means for growth and is not limited to a single medium. The Photographic Arts is a large passion within Kate's practice and is often used to communicate her expression within large concept ideas.
Kate has received her Photography Diploma from the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design in 2016 and won the Mary-Ellen Nealis Award for the top photographer of her graduating year. Since 2014 Kate has participated in 7 group exhibitions, was awarded the 2019 Luna Bursary grant, the Award of Visual Merit in 2020 and has self-published Eight Photo-based books titled; With the Wind, It’s all about you, Affinity, Evon Stremel Roy, A Beautiful collection, Beneficiary, Quaran-Zine and BLUmE. Kate has recently received her diploma from the full-time Portfolio Program at The School of the Photographic Arts Ottawa, in May 2020.
As a Photo-based artist, my practice has been influenced by my experiences of living with C-PTSD and learning to heal from my traumas. I suffered a great number of years alone without any formal diagnosis which left me living with everything I had been through completely untreated. I was worn down and isolated for years and withdrew from friendships, relationships and family; coiling inwards not knowing what was wrong. Through my work I curate concept ideas that help express and interpret some of the most intimate parts of myself, using my art practice as a tool of healing. Each series of work I create is a narrative of mixed whimsical and volatile depictions of my life, typically involving outsourced subjects to sit in place of myself. I slowly curate every aspect of each shoot with symbolism, research, design and subject matter to force myself to confront and categorize the trauma in a new form of muscle memory, helping to re-establish control over troubling aspects of my own reality. I am fascinated by the amount of change we can install in our own nervous system by learning new disciplined ways of thinking. Using historical film processes as my main source of communication to my audience is another form of symbolism that demonstrates that the trauma’s I have experienced are no longer living memories, but instead tangible photographs I carefully curated and can now hold and control in the palm of my own hand, becoming the master of my own mind.
EDUCATION
The School Of the Photographic Arts, Ottawa- Portfolio Diploma 2018-2020
The New Brunswick College of Craft and Design- Photography Diploma 2014-2016
Saint Thomas University, BA, Fredericton, NB, Attended 2009-2012
MEMBERSHIPS
Res-Artis Member 2020-21
CARFAC Ontario Member 2020-21
Canada Council For the Arts Member 2020-21
PUBLICATIONS
PhotoEd Magazine Winter 2020/21 Black and White Issue, 2020
QUARANZINE, First Issue March 2020
SPAO NEWSLETTER JULY, 2020
Do It For The Grain, Issue 2 Vol. 3, 2021, Instagram @doitforthegrain
PhotoED Magazine, Spring/Summer 2021 Digital Edition, Pg.32-33
'PaceMag, February 12th, 2021, Instagram @pacemag, Project 'Supernatural Women
Canadian Film Photographers, Featured Artist, June, 2021
NosyMag, Ottawa Ontario, Sept, 8th, 2021 Instagram @nosymag
PhotoED Magazine, Eco Issue, Sept, 2021
PhotoED Magazine, Spring/Summer 2022 DIGITAL EXTRA Page 70, 71
AWARDS
Mary Ellen-Nealis Award- Top Photographer of Graduating Class
Award of Visual Merit In recognition of outstanding achievement in Exhibition No.15
Luna Bursary Award of Excellence and Top first-year photographer
RESIDENCIES
Scrim's Florist Shop, Elgin St, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada November 2020-February 2021
EXHIBITIONS
Memory, George Fry Gallery, 2015
Stemple, Stemple Gallery, 2016
Out of our Minds, Beaverbrook Art Gallery, 2016
Bare, SPAO Centre Gallery, 2018
SPAO PRINT SALE, 2018 & 2019
The Grey Zone, SPAO Centre Gallery, 2019
Exhibition No. 14, SPAO Centre Gallery, 2019
Exhibition No. 15, SPAO Centre Gallery, 2020
Process, BLUmE Zine, DIFTG, Possible Worlds, Ottawa, March 2021
SELF PUBLISHED PORTFOLIO BOOKS
With the Wind 2014
Even Rose Stremel Roy 2015
A Beautiful Collection 2015
It's All About You 2016
Running With You 2016
Kara and Stephanie 2017
Jenn and Brynn 2018
Affinity 2019
Quaran-Zine, Issue One, 2020
Beneficiary 2020
BLUmE, Printed with Do It For The Grain, 2021
Rollie & Holga Quarterly Zines, Fall 2021 - Ongoing
EXPERIENCE
Founder and Owner of Kate Roy Photo Inc. Circa May 2021
Rollie & Holga Quarterly Zine Producer, Editor and Creator
Admin Assistant at PhotoED Magazine, Dec-June 2020
Social Media Posts, Research, and Article Writing
Contract Photographer – THE CHANGE FOUNDATION – 2019
'Documenting the creation of the Podcast ‘Young Carers
Wedding Photographer – ENTREPRENEUR – 2016-2018
Documentary style Wedding Photographer on the East coast of Canada
Photography Instructor • The University of New Brunswick •2017
Photography Camp instructor for children ages 7-14
Contract Photographer • PHOTOS UNLIMITED • 2017
On location photographer for Family and event photography
