Artist Statement

My work explores how familiar objects have the extraordinary ability to connect us.

I'm fascinated by the way familiar objects create moments of recognition. A birthday cake, a shared meal, a bouquet of flowers, a childhood toy, or even the music accompanying a celebration can instantly transport us back to the people, places, and experiences that shaped us. Although our memories are uniquely our own, the familiarity of these objects creates brief moments of connection through experiences we all recognize.

My work begins with that moment of connection.

Working in plaster using traditional mold-making and casting techniques, I pair the enduring forms of classical sculpture with familiar cultural objects to explore how everyday experiences become part of our shared cultural memory. By bringing historical figures into conversation with the objects that quietly define contemporary life, I invite viewers to reconsider the relationship between official history and the rituals, symbols, and experiences that shape our collective identity.

History remembers monuments, monarchs, and masterpieces. Yet cultures are equally shaped by the objects we celebrate with, gather around, carry, wear, play with, and pass from one generation to the next. These familiar objects often tell us just as much about who we are as the artifacts preserved behind museum glass.

Humor provides the first point of entry into my work, but curiosity is its destination. My sculptures ask how cultural meaning is formed, what brings us together, and ultimately, what future generations will understand about us through the familiar objects they choose to preserve.

Biography

CP KATE (Kate Rasmussen) is a contemporary sculptor whose work explores how familiar objects have the extraordinary ability to connect us.

Working in plaster using traditional mold-making and casting techniques, Rasmussen pairs the enduring forms of classical sculpture with familiar cultural objects drawn from everyday life. Birthday cakes, shared meals, flowers, toys, music, fashion, telephones, and other recognizable symbols become unexpected companions to historical figures, revealing how ordinary experiences quietly shape a culture's shared memory.

Her sculptures begin with moments of recognition. Although every viewer brings their own memories, the familiarity of these objects creates brief moments of connection through experiences we all recognize. Rasmussen explores how those shared moments become cultural memory and, ultimately, influence what societies choose to preserve.

Humor provides the first point of entry into her work, but curiosity is its destination. By collapsing the distance between history and everyday life, Rasmussen invites viewers to reconsider where cultural significance truly resides—not only in museums and monuments, but also in the objects, rituals, and experiences that quietly define every generation.

A self-taught sculptor, Rasmussen spent her professional career in the technology sector before moving on to pursue her artistic practice full-time. She lives and works in Portland, Oregon.

Follow Kate on Instagram @cpkatemaker