Kat Justen is a traditional oil painter based in Maryland. Her work is directed by personal and often subconscious iconography dealing with time and mortality as a function of art and historical subject.
She obtained her BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2015 and her art has been featured in MICA galleries as well as the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, VA. In 2014 she was the recipient of the Thomas Sangiamo Scholarship for excellence in drawing.
Prior to her pursuit of an art education, Kat worked as an Air Force enlisted graphic designer at Joint Base Andrews, and her creation of the JBA logo led to an in person meet-and-greet with the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama. She currently serves as a Combat and Heritage artist for the Air Force Reserve Command History Office.
"My paintings illustrate a preoccupation with the memento mori, time, emotion and art as a historical subject. The style and naturalism harken to the Baroque and Neo Classical periods when artists fooled the eye and filled the heart with somber ruminations. Drawing influence from artists such as Caravaggio, David and Bouguereau, the work reanimates a tradition of naturalism steeped in technique and craftsmanship. Materials therefore become an integral part of the process and include hand-made oil paints, cold windmill-pressed linseed oil, natural hog, mongoose and Kolinsky sable hair brushes, and hand-constructed maple, birch and linen surfaces."