About Me

Katie Kotler is a Canadian artist based in New York working across textiles, animation, music, print, and installation. Rooted in abstraction, her practice explores the intersections of movement and healing. Recently, she has shifted toward soft sculpture and silkscreen as tactile ways of bringing animation into physical space. Using lush fabrics, printed patterns, and animation stills, she creates immersive environments that feel both maximalist and soothing. She is drawn to materials often considered tacky—velvet, spandex, mylar, plastic—to reflect a tension between humor and beauty. Influenced by the Light and Space Movement and experimental sound practices, Kotler approaches her work through the idea that everything is grounded in motion. Her installations aim to create moments of relief: sensorial spaces that offer comfort and pleasure for the viewer.

Kotler’s projects have been featured in CBC Arts, Hyperallergic, Rhizome, and Canadian Art, and supported by grants from the Toronto Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts. She has exhibited internationally at venues including Tiger Strikes Asteroid (New York), Ortega y Gasset Projects (New York), and the Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto).

Her music has appeared in films screened at the Toronto Queer Film Festival, Trans Film Fest (Stockholm), Melbourne Queer Film Festival, British Film Institute, TIFF, and the Durban Queer Film Festival. She has also created live visuals for musicians, including The Vaselines at Toronto’s Venus Fest.

Kotler has participated in residencies at the Drake Hotel (Toronto) and Studio Beat (New York). In 2019, she served as the artist partner for the Equitable Bank Emerging Digital Artist Award. She has presented her work at Simon Fraser University (Vancouver), hosted a panel on brain injury, and given artist talks for organizations such as Artcite Inc. (Windsor).

Previously, Kotler was the programming coordinator at Xpace Cultural Centre (Toronto) and director of the Toronto Animated Image Society. Selected prints and tapes are available at Toutoune Gallery (Toronto) and Possible Worlds (Ottawa).

She is available for commissions, collaborations, and speaking engagements, and welcomes opportunities to work with musicians, curators, and arts organizations.

CV