“with no particular end use in mind,
i’ve been collecting junque and curios,
symbols and quotations for years.
blending handcraft techniques and
recycling, i explore ways for art to
become useful and for useful objects
to become art.”

from an early age in columbia falls, montana, when something was wanted, kate grenier learned to build it. kate worked on projects with her father in the wood shop, bringing her artistic sensibilities and beloved found objects to these early projects. this empowering spark influenced her studies in art UCLA, where she completed her degree in 2004.

grenier’s collections coalesce, creating functional art for home décor. Innovative solutions and refined lines, juxtaposed with folk-traditions, distinguish this young artist’s work. completely modern and unfettered in her approach, grenier blends literary quotes and roadside finds to establish a distinctive, memorable and highly accessible style. elements like milagros or quilting patterns in hammered-aluminum detailing, recur and combine in pleasantly startling designs.

recycling and reusing are an integral part of kate’s process, a primary approach to building playful furniture and décor, like hammered aluminum and copper clocks, mirrors, tables and jewelry boxes. grenier reinterprets form and function, with works ranging from found bottle caps, transformed into magnets, to elegant accent tables, bounded by the poetry of pablo neruda. kate especially enjoys personalizing a piece for a specific home, gift or persona—a refreshing rarity in functional artistry.

lessons at the workbench, international travels, and the so–cal feel of los angeles are integrated in grenier’s work. disarmingly charming, eclectic and sophisticated: her black wooden jewelry boxes take a predictable structure and adorn this rigid form with fluid poetry.

drawing from the experience of a moment, filtered through readings, emotions and travels, grenier’s disparate elements find expression in whimsical clocks and bottle cap magnets—each cap containing a replica snippet of news. Each inventive piece serves a purpose in home, studio or office.

“i contrast materials with content, seeking to express the common element, that unifies sensuous, poetic metaphor with the coldness of aluminum or reflection in a mirror. my art is a backward glance at special moments in my life.”