Biography
Kathleen Celestin should have been a third-grade dropout. Nothing school related was appealing to her. Without realizing it, her Art teacher, Ms. Kaufman convinced her to stay in school, through her love of art.
Kathleen Celestin was born in Brooklyn, New York, however, she has lived in Nassau County, New York, most of her life. She learned some of her art skills from her brother, Ronald, but attributes most of her skills, interest, and love of art to Ms. Kaufman.
While loving to create art, Kathleen did not choose the direct fine arts route in college, but she did take studio art courses whenever she could. She became an Elementary school teacher in a quest to help her students love learning. However, soon after, she remembered that art was the key to her success during those formative years. In an attempt to share the love of art that Ms. Kaufman instilled in her, she went back to school to earn a Master’s degree in Art Education.
While pursuing this degree, she discovered her love for printmaking. After her studies, she knew she would return to school to study all she could about this art form. Recently, she was able to do so, when she received her MFA from Long Island University, with a concentration in printmaking.
Currently, she is an Art educator at the Stewart Manor and Covert Avenue Schools in the Elmont School District.
Artist’s Statement
I believe that art should convey messages either through blatant images or through symbolism. At first, my art conveyed messages about my internal struggles. Now, I feel I should also show the struggles of other members of society. While I didn’t view myself as being political or voicing political views, there comes a time in your life when you have to speak out, stand up, sit-in, protest, boycott, resist, defy, or kneel for your beliefs. If you pay attention to current events and trends, you see that there are injustices committed in all levels of society, every day. I decided that my art will be a voice used to help right wrongs in the two domains that I identify with – being Black and being a woman.
As an artist, printmaking is my preferred concentration. Most of my works of art may have one or many printmaking techniques within it. It is an art form that incorporates all that I appreciate about art. I can draw, paint, photograph, and carve to create a variety of works of art. I find the process to be just as fulfilling when creating the finished product and the by-product. I can couple the printmaking process with the use of a mixture of media to complete the evolution of my art. With this printmaking and mixed media technique, I use my art as an activist’s platform to educate and inform the public on how unjust political policies affect Blacks and women.
Follow me on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/kathleencelestinart
