By Ashley Morken, Unglued
Photos submitted by Ashley Morken

Every maker event we do through Unglued gets me so freaking excited to see the new work coming out of our crazy talented creative community in the FM area—and I’m infinitely inspired by the continued growth of it! Seeing Kathy Freese’s work in our Craft Fest application was a whole new level of artistic expression and craft all in one and I’m so excited for you to get to know more about her today.

Tell us a bit about yourself

I’ve lived in Minnesota my whole life, but I am a transplant to this community. Over the last five years, I’ve grown to love Fargo-Moorhead, and I really feel like it’s my home. I am excited about my hobbies and you might see me practicing my sick roller skating moves at Skate City—I just learned how to brake, yay! Or, you might find me singing karaoke at Harold’s in Moorhead. In case you were wondering, my karaoke song is “Eternal Flame” by the Bangles.

The love of my life is my cat Meeko, we have an inseparable bond, and she’s totally going to live forever. I’m also really passionate about pets and volunteer at Homeward Animal Shelter. I love volunteering there, and hope you look into volunteering there, too, because all the shelter animals need hugs every day! I also really love the mall. I am currently a studio member at Aptitude, the Arts Partnership studio space located at West Acres Mall. When I go to work at the studio, I always do my laps of the mall making sure to grab a delicious mall beverage and look at the puppies in the pet store window. I could go on forever about all my favorite places and things in Fargo. If you see me around the community, I will certainly talk your ear off more!

Describe what type of products you make under Love, Kathy

Truthfully, my brand name is pretty new. I am still learning how to be an artist outside of school—I just graduated from Minnesota State University Moorhead last May. I have a degree in studio arts and typically make sculptures. While my brand name is new, I can say that I’ve been thinking about what to call myself for a very long time. I settled on Love, Kathy because I really want to communicate that the work I make is specially made with care. My art is a kind of love letter and I wanted my name to reflect that. The products I’m making now are home goods and decorative sculptures. My favorite thing to make is for sure lamps.

Tell us how you got started with your business.

I have so much creative energy and nowhere to put it all! I have mountains of yarn, buckets of clay, and boxes and boxes full of finished work at my apartment. My closet is currently overflowing with stacks of boxes filled with sculptures. I spend so much time thinking about projects and crazy ideas and then I have all sorts of items that I’ve made and am not sharing with others. I’d really like to share what sparks joy for me with members of the community.

What is your personal favorite item or piece you’ve created so far?

Last year I spent six months working on a sculpture about cleaning inequality called “328 Hours.” At over six-feet wide and eight-feet long and densely packed, “328 Hours” is the most laborious piece I’ve undertaken and includes hundreds of ceramic pieces molded in the shape of cleaner bottles. The time I spent making “328 Hours” was probably my most intense period productivity-wise to date. Each cleaner bottle represents an additional hour of domestic work that women do, compared to other members of their household and all the bottles together act as a symbol to show the additional unpaid labor women do in the span of one year. I’ll be bringing pieces of this installation to the Craft Fest if you’d like to see it in person.

What is the most popular item you specifically sell?

People really gravitate toward the lamps I make, sculptures of cleaning products (part of the “328 Hours” installation), and wall tiles I make. I am transitioning from art student to studio artist now and hope to learn what community members like now that I’m out in the world making work!

How did you get into making lamps with your work?

This is very nerdy, but I love that a lamp is sculptural while also having a function. When I make with clay I always feel the impulse to make work that’s functional—making home goods, like lamps, gives my crazy sculptures a reason to be sitting on your table. I also love picking out the perfect rainbow cord and light fixtures for each piece.

What’s something people would find surprising about your process?

Wiring a lamp is surprisingly easy! Before I learned how, I always felt that it would be impossible to learn—I had a serious mental wall up. I learned how to wire lamps with the help of a mentor and as soon as I had the instruction, it was like the rain clouds parted and the sun shined down on me. This learning experience gives me the confidence to try new things. Now I know I can do things that feel hard because I’ve done them before.

Where can people find your work?

Currently, you can find my work on Instagram! I share my projects and studio practice online. I’m working hard to have a website and listings on Etsy and will have these things very soon!

Instagram | @the.kathy.freese